As we've come to expect from today's emerging soloists (she is among the legion of Dorothy Delay students), the technique is absolutely solid, showing no sign of weakness or timidity, and especially in the faster pieces--the scherzo and allegros of the Sonata, the moto perpetuo of the Op. 10 Etude that concludes the program--she projects nothing but confidence and fearlessness. She effortlessly and with perfect intonation conquers the various chromatic runs and extreme heights of the E-string (in the Op. 69 No. 2 waltz and Op. 9 No. 2 nocturne, for example), and her multitudinous double-stop passages are played with rich tone and assured style. And speaking of tone, Manoukian's bow draws one of the plushest G-string sounds you'll ever hear--one of those un-teachable expressive gifts, but also a function of her gorgeous 1861 Vuillaume violin (once owned by Ysa˙e)--and produces shiver-inducing upper-register notes.

It's only in the slower music--the Largo of the sonata, the Op. 72 Nocturne--that we sense a slightly underdeveloped interpretive view, and we might wish for a little more rubato here, a bit more subtlety there, a playful flip, a more lingering diminuendo. But overall, this wonderful violinist has perfectly captured the excitement and drama inherent in these transcriptions--by such luminaries as Sarasate, Kreisler, Milstein, Auer, and Saint-Saëns, not to mention contemporary composer/Juilliard professor Ranjbaran--and most importantly celebrates their exceptional, irresistible melodic beauty. And what a stylish, dynamic pianist is Akira Eguchi! Here is another young artist who commands attention by virtue of his mature musicianship and dashing technique. The sound is ideally balanced, slightly on the bright side, and true to the natural sound of the instruments. My next task is to find Manoukian's debut recording, Elegies & Rhapsodies, also available from Marquis. [3/29/2003]