Classical Hugs - International Music Festival & Concert Series
Review of performance of Rafailia Kapsokavadi, violin at Classical Hugs Music Festival-2018 in collaboration with Alion Baltic Festival. Concert at Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland
My name is Michael Bulychev-Okser and I am internationally acclaimed pianist, composer, and Piano Professor at Lucy Moses school at Kaufman Center in New York. Additionally, I am the the Founder, Artistic Director, and CEO of the George Gershwin International Music Competition in the United States and Classical Hugs Music Festival in Estonia, formerly known as Alion Baltic International Music Festival, one of a kind event in Northern Europe, attracting many eminent musicians and performers from over 60 countries around the World.
It's my pleasure to review a memorable concert of the festival with participation of Rafailia Kapsokavadi, a talented virtuoso violinist from Greece, currently located in New York.
Ms. Kapsokavadi has been an excellent violinist for over 17 years and in the summer of 2018, she participated in the Alion Baltic International Music Festival in Estonia, where I had the pleasure of meeting her and listening to her violin virtuoso playing. During the festival, Ms. Kapsokavadi participated in violin masterclasses, was part of festival orchestra and chamber music groups, an extensive tour, performed her solo repertoire, and participated in the international competition, organized as part of Alion Baltic International Music Festival. During the competition, Rafailia performed a variety of repertoire, including Beethoven’s Violin Sonata No. 8 and Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D Major Op. 35. Rafailia’s performance displayed her as an emerging young artist, capable of overcoming complex interpretational problems with ingenious success.
During the summer tour in Stockholm, Finland, Riga and Estonia from June-August 2018, Rafailia gave some outstanding performances in various cities. Rafailia performed with the American Russian pianist, Paul Mnatsakanov in Finland, the second city of the tour and after this performance, she was awarded the 1st prize with a Special Audience Award along with a cash prize.
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The Greek-born, now based in New York City, Juilliard and Mannes School -trained Rafailia Kapsokavadi performed some rather substantial music. Besides the familiar "Devil's Trill" Sonata and two lesser-known display pieces by Wieniawski, we get the popular Franck Sonata— quite a varied selection of Baroque and Romantic challenges for any fiddler.
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The rendition of "The Devil's Trill" is an impressive opening to the program. Rafailia uses the Fritz Kreisler arrangement, and I will not attempt to make musicological comparisons with the original score. There is so much to admire in Rafailia's warmth of sound and seemingly effortless execution of not only the trills but the various other technical demands that Tartini placed upon his soloist.
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I wish I could be as unreserved in praising Rafailia's and her accompanist's performance of the Franck Sonata. Ideally, this great work was performed with a pianist equal in every way to the violinist, Paul Mnatsakanov, he was perfectly skilled for the Tartini and Wieniawski— especially in the opening Allegretto. Rafailia is pretty pale in the opening bars herself, as if she wanted to save the drama for later. She is trying to convey a world of emotion, however held back, even in those opening bars.
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I found Rafailia’s performance of the stormy Allegro second movement more engaging. In the Recitativo that opens the third movement, Rafailia again seems very fiery and passionate with those high notes and chords on the left hand, and the Finale has more joy and pathos (especially on the pianist's part) than one might want. Technically, her shifts were exquisite, her sense of phrasing was proportional to her mellow legato lines, while her understanding of style and subtle musicality revealed a promising artist.
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Rafailia is a very gifted musician whose talents promise much for a very generous career.