EIF Music reviews: Nadine Shah | Midori & Özgür Aydin

Channelling Siouxsie Sioux, PJ Harvey, David Bowie and Northern Soul, Nadine Shah turned a striking concert into an unforgettable one, while American-Japanese violinist Midori was a paragon of musical intimacy in her five-star performance with pianist Özgür Aydin

Nadine Shah | Pic: ©Jess Shurte

Nadine Shah

Queen’s Hall

★★★★☆

Exercising a deep, moody voice reminiscent of Siouxsie Sioux or PJ Harvey on the sombre, sustained single-note grind of Stealing Cars; a jacket lapel-flicking, high-kicking physical presence in the mould of 1980s David Bowie on Food for Fuel, and a series of jagged physical dance moves that lay somewhere between slow-motion aerobic workout and Northern Soul routine on the aptly-named Greatest Dancer, Nadine Shah continues to be a relentlessly charismatic live performer.

To the moodily atmospheric backing of her four-piece band, and under lights which became progressively more blood-red as this concert progressed, her hands floated gently in the air alongside her as crescendos were reached, while other lines ended with her tongue being impudently jabbed towards the audience. This was a particularly gothic brand of punk rock, and if the presence of a young child in the front row had her self-censoring, her conversation still entertained. “Is this your first?” she asked satirically of a couple married earlier in the day. “Aw, cute!”

Delivered with a gorgeous, powerful voice, like an oncoming storm, the sense in Shah’s songs is that she’s summoning power and exorcising trauma all at once, particularly on the beloved fan favourites Topless Mother and Keeping Score. Closing number Out the Way became an exhortation to not become desensitised to the conflict in Gaza, with Shah marching the aisles demanding “ceasefire now”, her focus and passion turning a striking concert into an unforgettable one.

David Pollock

Midori & Özgür Aydin

Queen’s Hall

★★★★★

Whether in crisply articulated Mozart, the simmering heat of Fauré, the breezy lyricism of Schumann, or the dizzy extremes of Richard Strauss, this entire programme by American-Japanese violinist Midori and her pianist collaborator Özgür Aydin was a paragon of musical intimacy. Never once did she overstep the bounds of good taste, harnessing instead a golden inner beauty within her seamless delivery, while Aydin’s solid pianism offered bold but empathetic support.

The pair launched into Mozart’s Sonata No 23 with pristine, attention-grabbing immediacy, Midori’s teasing single-note opening to the slow movement a magical breath-take between the rigorous opening Allegro and a closing Allegretto coloured with the subtlest of theatrics. And where Fauré’s Violin Sonata No 1 took us initially to steamier climes, that was soon tempered by the tenderer reaches of the inner movements and a heartwarming, sunlit finale.

Midori | Pic: Contributed

An equally well-balanced second half opened with Schumann’s Three Romances Op 94, almost intermezzo-like en route to the more mountainous extremes of Strauss’ Sonata Op 18. In the latter, Wagnerian tremors may have rumbled ominously beneath the surface, but foremost in this performance was that delirious Straussian ecstasy, those crowning catharses, which Midori and Aydin conveyed with fiery but genuine integrity.

Ken Walton

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