Violin/Piano recital Wigmore Hall 12 December 2005
Mozart Sonata K 454 for Piano & Violin; Strauss Violin Sonata Op.18

Billing pianists in smaller print is always a danger sign, reminding us of the bad old days of "accompanists" before Gerald Moore revolutionized his profession.

And lengthy CVs, always redundant, can be counter productive for listeners who have bought their tickets and so are more likely to trust their ears than what they read (if it is unreadable here, so was it nearly so at the concert, a struggle with tiny print on gray paper, a besetting sin of graphic designers!).

This was an embarrassing event and we did not stay to hear it through; the Schubert Fantasy D.934 demands highest virtuosity which this violinist, who had sounded uneasy and insecure in the first half, seemed unlikely to be able to deliver.

Between Hideko Udagawa * and Ashley Wass there was little rapport or empathy to be perceived and enjoyed in this recital. Playing Mozart on a Steinway, Wass's exemplary articulation and phrasing took all attention in one of the composer's best and most expansive sonatas. For Strauss's sonata (1887) Ashley Wass demonstrated how thoroughly he had studied and developed his contribution to a far from favourite work of mine, dating from the composer's early chamber music period, before he burst upon the scene with Don Juan and the orchestral music and operas which have remained ever popular for over a century. Again, it was the piano part - no mere accompaniment - which drew and held attention. Whilst the 'soloist' was tentative and unreliable, Wass, never over-dominant, found a multitude of orchestral colours in his pianistically demanding part, delivering the music imperturbably and with complete control.

It has been a pleasure to follow Ashley Wass's career since he has proved a worthy winner of the World Piano Competition (London 1997). He has pursued an interest in chamber music, which cannot but inform and enhance his general musicianship and reflect in his solo playing. Unfortunately I have not heard him yet with worthy partners.

* See reviews, and hear excerpts from Hideko Udagawa's recordings online

Ivan Hewett in Arts Telegraph:
- - the evening concert was truly dismaying. It was given by the violinist Hideko Udagawa, who has a good pedigree; she studied with the great Nathan Milstein, and her style is a faithful and, at times, rather touching recreation of a pre-war approach, with its vocal swoops, the impassioned anticipations of the beat, and the little "sigh" at melodic descents. It's a shame that these good things were so comprehensively spoilt by her relentlessly high bow pressure, and a mannered way of executing bouncing-bow notes that choked the tone and gave everything an aggressive edge. The tendency to force the tone, rather than allow it to bloom, was especially harmful in the great Schubert C major Fantasy, which needs a ringing, natural sound. Once again it fell to a sensitive, alert pianist - on this occasion Ashley Wass - to make the concert seem better than it really was.