Colburn Concert Good as Gold

The first season of Colburn Gold recitals, concerts in the Colburn School’s Zipper Hall by distinguished alumni of the institution, ended festively Sunday when violist Nukuthula Ngwenyama returned to her alma mater.

Ngwenyama did not compose an easy or throwaway program. Its centerpiece was Hindemith’s early but challenging Sonata for solo viola, Opus 11, followed by Schumann’s Fantasy Pieces, Opus 73, and William Primrose’s transcription of Paganini’s “La Campanella.” These are formidably exposed showpieces, and they were here preceded by the Vitali Chaconne and by Brahms’ F-minor Sonata.

Although she warmed up slowly, Ngwenyama sailed through all this display like the virtuoso she is. The second half of the afternoon proved the more satisfying, perhaps because Brahms’ sonatas of Opus 120, written for clarinet, always disappoint when played by viola: Timbre, range and temperament, not to mention the assertive piano part, simply do not fit the stringed instrument.

Nevertheless, the violist, assisted neatly here and throughout by pianist Reiko Uchida, accorded the work its seriousness and many of its songful glories. She triumphed in the first Hindemith Sonata, projecting its colors, its intensity and its long lines effortlessly, and found many beauties in the Schumann and Paganini pieces.