Violinist Makes Forceful Return to Colburn

Enchantment was in the air as violinist Sheryl Staples returned to her roots to begin the Colburn Gold Series Sunday afternoon. Not only did the rise of a local girl--who, at 29, is the new principal associate concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic--have its fairy-tale qualities, but the school itself, recently relocated from a warehouse home, has its own Cinderella story. On this occasion, the cathedral ceilings, the coral-pink pillars separating box seating and the Fazioli concert grand waiting on the parqueted stage at Zipper Concert Hall all bore witness to its good fortune.

With a reported 269 of the 420 seats filled, the hall provided an inviting and intimate acoustical setting for Staples and her accompanist Anne Epperson, warm-toned and clear in all registers. In this first of six concerts featuring distinguished alumni, the duo introduced the venue with a mixture of substance and fluff.

Sonatas by Beethoven and Franck, and a transcription of three pieces from Prokofiev’s “Romeo and Juliet” provided the substantial portions, all of which received meaty, no-nonsense readings from the violinist, despite the differences in the scores’ styles. Never a sentimentalist, Staples offered an urgent and commanding account of Beethoven’s Sonata No. 1 in D, Opus 12, No. 1, and a biting, aggressive performance of Franck’s Sonata for Violin and Piano in A. She also proved canny in her choice of partner. Epperson balanced musical ideas, delved further into quiet shadings and supplied a welcome measure of real tenderness.

Staples triumphed, however, in the angular lines and sharp accents of “Romeo and Juliet.” Here, she seemed an unstoppable force, as she captured the foreboding mood in broad, heavy-handed strokes.

Kreisler’s “Slavonic Fantasie,” a soppy arrangement of music by Dvorak, and Sarasate’s hackneyed “Zigeunerweisen” made odd bedfellows for the rest of the agenda, but they did give Staples a chance to flaunt a full bag of technical tricks, which she did with characteristic cool-headedness and admirable control.