• Coco Tomita & Svitlana Kosenko at Breinton

    Coco Tomita & Svitlana Kosenko at Breinton

  • Coco Tomita & Svitlana Kosenko at Breinton

    Coco Tomita & Svitlana Kosenko at Breinton

  • Coco Tomita & Svitlana Kosenko at Breinton

    Coco Tomita & Svitlana Kosenko at Breinton

  • Coco Tomita & Svitlana Kosenko at Breinton

    Coco Tomita & Svitlana Kosenko at Breinton

  • Coco Tomita & Svitlana Kosenko at Breinton

    Coco Tomita & Svitlana Kosenko at Breinton

  • Coco Tomita & Svitlana Kosenko at Breinton

    Coco Tomita & Svitlana Kosenko at Breinton

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The March weather cast dark clouds over the country with unusually severe heavy snow for two weekends. But the recital by violinist Coco Tomita and pianist Svitlana Kosenko last Saturday brought a shining stream of light to Breinton where everyone was longing for spring.

The programme, which included a Brahms’ Sonata, two movements from Bach’s solo Sonata, six Paganini Caprices and Ravel’s Tzigane, stimulated the musical appetite of all violin lovers. And Coco did not disappoint; it was way beyond a simple recital by a teenage violinist in preparation for a competition. She showed extraordinary ability by any standard which resulted in a full satisfaction from the audience. I hope Coco felt it too.

With Brahms Sonata No. 1, Coco and Svitlana offered the most tender and intimate side of the composer’s works. The true sense of chamber music showed through the impeccable collaboration between the two performers. While there was no showy bravado in this Sonata, it was like a hidden inner feeling was slowly and delicately unfolding. In the first movement, Coco’s beautiful clarity of line was singing and soaring, extending into a lyrical fantasy. In the second movement, I thought her phrasing was touchingly personal; the connection of the phrases smoothly done and double-stopping fantastically executed. Svitlana’s expertise of understanding the temperament, volume and timing added indispensable value to create such a mature performance.

Coco performed a total of six of Paganini’s Caprices. For most people, they are devilishly impossible pieces of violin solo works, but what an astounding performance it was. There was a great mix of seriousness and playfulness with Caprice No. 13, and a dexterity show-off with No. 5. Caprice No. 20 reminded me of a bagpipe with the D string as a drone – beautifully done. One audience member cited, ‘Paganini would have been happy with her performance’.

Inserting Adagio and Fuga of Bach’s violin Solo Sonata gave a clean outbreak to the second half. Never afraid of usage of the full bow, the sound had a pleasant, non-decorative straightforwardness.

Ravel’s Tzigane completed the evening. Coco showed a completely different side of her from the Brahms Sonata: as if to say, “I own this piece, I own this stage”, a diva attitude which was acutely suited to this instance. The first note in, Coco had already captured everyone’s attention, and the music climaxed tirelessly until the last moment. I so enjoyed the fleshy, meaty, deeply engaging tone of the violin. Here again, the two performers’ collaboration was spot-on, bringing out the craziness and madness of this powerful, exotic and haunting masterwork.

Still a student at the Yehudi Menuhin School, Coco must be under the instruction of highly regarded teachers and digesting them diligently. But this time, I felt that she had established her own interpretation, her own decision and way to express herself, which couldn’t be possibly taught or told by anyone else.

  • Brahms
    Sonata No. 1 in G major, Op. 78
  • Paganini
    Caprices Nos. 9, 11 and 5
  • Bach
    Sonata for solo violin No. 1 in G minor BMV 1001
  • Paganini
    Caprices Nos. 20, 13 and 24
  • Ravel
    Tzigane

Coco Tomita was born in Japan in 2002 and began to play the violin when she was four years old. She became a pupil of Natasha Boyarsky when she was six, and in 2012 she was awarded a place at the Yehudi Menuhin School where she is continuing to study with Mrs Boyarsky.

In 2010, at the age of eight, Coco became the youngest contestant to win 3rd Prize in the Junior section of Andrea Postacchini International Violin Competition in Fermo, Italy. Two years later, she made her debut appearance at the Cadogan Hall, London performing as a soloist with the Southbank Sinfonia.

Svitlana Kosenko was born in Ukraine and studied at Kharkov University of Arts with professor Meinikov and in Germany with Professor Mokatsyan. In 1999, she won second prize in the International Competition of French-Polish Music in Paris.

2001 saw Svitlana take first prize in the Smetana International Competition and was awarded a Special Prize for her performance at the Enescu Competition. In 2012, she won Best Pianist at the Joseph Suder Lieder Competition. Since 2014, Svitlana has been Accompanist in Residence at the Yehudi Menuhin School.