Passion, Charisma From Violinist St. John : Passionate Violinist St. John Doesn’t Need Marketing Antics

The slow demise of the solo recital seems to be an accepted fact of our musical life, yet every season brings forth enough living, thriving examples to contradict the conventional wisdom. Lara St. John’s appearance on the Jose Iturbi Gold Medal Series at the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts this week, for example, proved to be the opposite of a fade-out--it was a stunning Southern California debut recital.

Before an attentive audience, decent in size if well under capacity in the handsome showplace, the 27-year-old Canadian violinist held her listeners tightly through a serious and varied program Monday night.

With her pianist, Ilan Rechtman, she gave a high-energy, musically compelling performance devoted first to Schubert’s Rondo in B minor and Prokofiev’s impassioned Sonata No. 1. Then, after intermission and Bach’s D-minor Chaconne (from the Partita No. 2), St. John and Rechtman--they are a team, no doubt about it--closed the event with more lighthearted but no less challenging fare: an informal Gypsy suite.

In the ever more competitive world of violinists today, more than deep musical perspectives and infallible technique are required. Like the best of the still-under-30 camp, St. John brings to the stage personal charisma, an unflagging musical imagination and genuine passion. And all this without resorting to marketing antics that made her first CD controversial, the one on which she was pictured apparently wearing little except her fiddle. This time, she cemented a serious and attractive image in a sophisticated black gown.

Prokofiev’s First Sonata, a work of substance and strength, seemed on this occasion to rise in stature to the level of a masterpiece, so intense and probing was the duo’s performance. They accomplished similar feats with the Schubert rondo. A lower level of energy and insight characterized the great Chaconne.

Despite some recurring wiriness of tone and an inconsistent sound--sometimes lush, more often skinny--St. John delivered a group of excerpts from her “Gypsy” CD with an irresistible virtuosity. She brought stylishness to Kreisler’s “La Gitana,” colorful flair and temperament to two handsome pieces written by pianist Rechtman--Variations on “Dark Eyes” and “Gypsy Nocturne”--and a nearly frightening control to Waxman’s “Carmen” Fantasy.

The Cerritos audience accorded the artists two standing ovations. The felicitous and touching encore was Fritz Kreisler’s “Schon Rosmarin.”