Kutik shows growth, ideas

The Berkshire Eagle (January 13, 2009) -- The Berkshire Eagle
January 13, 2009
Andrew Pincus


...Taking on Schumann's rarely performed Sonata No. 2, he and Eguchi achieved a moment of sublimity in the gentle andante movement, a theme and variations based on a chorale-like melody. The prevailing tranquility is interrupted by brief but angry outbursts. In the performance, the alternating states beautifully reflected the gentle Schumann's condition at that late stage in his life, when he was going insane, hearing strange sounds and voices, and soon to attempt suicide…[in the Prokofiev] he fiddled up a storm in the razzle-dazzle stuff and outright diablerie. The jaunty finale offers a bag of tricks for the violinist, and Kutik, with Eguchi in full agreement, proved himself a suitable trickster.