Solomiya Soroka Concert

Wednesday, February 23, 2000 at 7 p.m.

Solomiya Soroka, prize-winning violinist from Lviv accompanied by pianist Oksana Lassowsky -- IN CONCERT. Program features works by Chausson, Franck, Hubay, Lysenko, Skoryk and Stankovych.

Sponsored by The Washington Group Cultural Fund.

Chevy Chase Women's Club
7931 Connecticut Avenue
Chevy Chase, MD
(Free parking behind Club)

Admission: Free, donations welcome.

For information: (202) 363-3964 or email: LaryssaC@aol.com.

Washington Post Review:

PERFORMING ARTS

Saturday, February 26, 2000; Page C04

Solomia Soroka

To the best of my recollection, I had never heard a note composed by Myroslav Skoryk until Wednesday night, when three of his pieces were played at the Chevy Chase Women's Club. He should be better known in this country; he is an original, a composer with a distinct identity, a mastery of many idioms--jazzy, folk-style and moderately avant-garde--that he uses to shape works embodying piquant contrasts, convincing climaxes and sometimes impish wit.

Skoryk's Sonata No. 2 for Violin and Piano, Burlesque in C for Solo Piano and Spanish Dance for Violin and Piano were highlights of the program, sponsored jointly by the Embassy of Ukraine and the cultural fund of the Washington Group, a Ukrainian American organization. The program focused on Ukrainian composers (a sadly neglected group in this country), but also included landmarks in the standard repertoire for violin and piano, notably Giuseppe Tartini's "Devil's Trill" sonata and Pablo de Sarasate's "Zigeunerweisen" ("Gypsy Airs").

Violinist Solomia Soroka had two talented pianists who took turns playing and turning pages: Myroslava Kyselevych, who soloed in the Burlesque, and Oksana Lassowsky, whose partnership in the "Zigeunerweisen" helped to produce one of the finest performances I have ever heard of that much-played work.

Soroka is a superbly equipped violinist, at ease with the technical challenges of Sarasate or of Jeno Hubay's Czardas No. 2, but even more impressive in the gentler moments of Evhen Stankovych's Cradle Song and Mykola Lysenko's pleasantly conventional Fantasy No. 2 on Ukrainian themes. Her tone is warm and mellow on the low strings, brilliant on the high strings, perfectly controlled and expressively used.

--Joseph McLellan