Tag: Dudu Falcão

Viktoria Mullova (Violin) & Misha Mullov-Abbado (Jazz Bass), Late Night Concert At The Wigmore Hall, 5 July 2024

With grateful thanks to Misha, Viktoria and Bridget O’Donnell for allowing me to use their pictures from the evening.

We went to quite a few “Wigmore Hall Lates”, back in the day, but this is the first time we have ventured back at that later hour since the pandemic.

We were keen to see this much-lauded mother and son combination perform.

I had seen Misha’s dad perform more than 40 years ago – my first ever night at The Proms:

My First Night At the Proms: Me, Jilly & Claudio, 1 September 1983

All the more reason to find out what Viktoria and Misha are up to, musically. Further, we liked the sound of the Brazilian theme for the concert, which we sensed, correctly, would please us.

We enjoyed a light supper of charcuterie and stuff at The Wig before the concert. They do that sort of thing very well these days. While we were eating, the performers were setting up and photographing one another.

Here is a link to the Wigmore Hall stub for this concert.

The conceit of this concert, if indeed conceit describes this simple rationale, is that Viktoria and Misha perform a selection of the stuff that they like to play together. Their joy in playing this music really came across in performance.

We heard:

  • Blue Deer by Misha Mullov-Abbado
  • Brazil by Misha Mullov-Abbado
  • Shir Lelo Shem by Shalom Hanoch
  • Adagio & Allegro From Violin Sonata No. 1 in B minor BWV1014 by Johann Sebastian Bach
  • Moderato from Sonata in D for solo violin Op. 115 by Sergey Prokofiev
  • Sabiá by Antônio Carlos Jobim
  • Little Astronaut by Misha Mullov-Abbado
  • Shanti Bell by Misha Mullov-Abbado
  • O Silêncio das Estrelas by Lenine & Dudu Falcão
  • O Cabo Pitanga by Laércio de Freitas
  • Träumerei from Kinderszenen by Robert Schumann
  • Tico Tico by Zequinha de Abreu

Here is a lovely example, recorded a few years ago, of them performing one of the above pieces:

Their closing number, Tico Tico, is more than a bit of an earworm for me. Not least, because the Harris family gramophone records included a version of that song by Mickey Katz and His Kosher Jammers. Viktoria and Misha’s version sounded more like the above example and did not sound at all like the following recording:

I sense that Misha and family thought the event went well. Misha and Viktoria certainly look pleased in this green room photo.

Thanks again for allowing me to use your photographs, folks.