In the culmination of her Andover violin career, Rachel Ryu ’12 impressed and delighted her receptive audience during her senior recital with an emotion-provoking repertoire in the Timken Room of Graves Hall this past Saturday.
Ryu started the night off with “Sonata for Violin and Piano in A Major,” a four-piece movement composed by Cesar Franck.
“Of the [Sonata’s] four movements, the last was probably my favorite,” said Bernadette Norman ’14, “Ryu expressed the dynamics beautifully in the last movement. From intense moments from her and Tokuno to very lilting, soft places, the piece came together beautifully. And always coming back to a certain theme, it created quite a journey for the audience.”
The audience consisted of faculty members and Ryu’s friends and family.
“She [Ryu] plays in orchestra and she’s really talented, so I figured I’d come and see her… Her performance was really great. She’s really skilled technically, and then she puts so much emotion into it,” said Greg Zhang ’12.
Ryu said in an e-mail to The Phillipian, “I was happy with the turnout [of my recital]. Since it was Saturday night, I didn’t expect much [of an audience], but it was nice to have my closest friends and parents there to hear me play. … [The small audience] made the recital more intimate, which is exactly what I tried to make my program be.”
Ryu also played “Introduction and Rondo Capriccios in A minor, Op. 28” by Camille Saint-Saens, which progressed from quick, abrupt, staccato movements to long, legato sounds.
The following piece, “Legende, Op. 17” by Henryk Wieniawski had a more ominous beginning with the piano accompaniment by Tokuno. This piece had a nice back and forth conversation between piano and violin, as the melody’s mood changed in this piece from happy and spirited to dark and gloomy.
For her final piece, Ryu played the main soundtrack from the 1993 Academy Award winning movie “Schindler’s List,” composed by John Williams. Paul Noh ’12 accompanied Ryu on the piano, and the duo charged their playing with emotion. “Weren’t you crying at the end?” asked Christina Landolt, Instructor in Music, referencing the final note from the piece, which hung in the air and stunned the audience into silence for a brief pause.
Having flown in from Chicago, IL, Ryu’s parents were in attendance. “She was so phenomenal today, and particularly poured out her heart and emotions toward the last piece,” said Ryu’s father.
