In intimate setting, teen violinist wows connoisseurs

Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2007 | 7:11 a.m.

What: Las Vegas Philharmonic's Connoisseur Series

Nov. 7: Elena Ulyanova, piano, hosted by Alisa Nave

March 5: Matt Haimovitz, cello, hosted by Barbara Lee and Bruce Woollen

April 9: John and Julie Cheek, four-hands piano, hosted by Art and C.J. Woolston

Tickets: $125 per evening; 258-5438, ext. 226

The Steinway sits ready on the marble floor at the base of the winding staircase.

Host Kristen Routh Silberman fiddles with the lights. Late arrivals scavenge hors d'oeuvres. The caterers look busy as the valets relax.

The formally dressed crowd sips wine and mingles on the patio of the spacious home nestled in a secluded cove within Anthem Country Club.

In a few minutes they'll move into the living room for a recital by a 15-year-old violinist who will absolutely blow them away.

It is the Las Vegas Philharmonic's first soiree of the season, a curtsy to the days when classical music was written and performed for small audiences in intimate settings rather than in concert halls.

Learning of the Philharmonic's success - it's had 31 of the fundraising soirees since January 2000 - new musical director David Itkin was surprised.

"It's been tried in lots of cities, and it's rarely successful," Itkin said. "There doesn't seem to be a large enough group to hear this music in this setting. A lot of things have to work to make it happen."

It requires patrons with large homes who can pay for catering and valet services.

The audience? That's in the bag in Las Vegas. These shows sell out.

Itkin arranged this season's Connoisseur Series within 48 hours of being announced as music director. The first featured soloist is Shannon Lee, a Canadian-born violinist who made her debut with the Dallas Symphony when she was 12.

She is announced, enters and tunes up. Then she and pianist Barbara Riske break into Vitali's Chaconne in G minor with enough power and grace to knock the crowd's socks off. It isn't until the end of the piece that you hear the audience exhale. They applaud generously. Bach's lengthy and raw Partita No. 2 in D minor comes next, then Kreisler's dizzyingly delightful "Tambourin Chinois."

By the end of Bazzini's "The Round of the Goblins," the audience is leaping from their chairs to bring her back for an encore. She plays three more pieces: Prokofiev's March from "The Love for Three Oranges," Chopin's Nocturne No. 20 in C sharp minor and Wieniawski's Scherzo Tarantella for violin and piano.

Mature enough to handle the pieces with vigor and ease and young enough to giggle when tuning takes a little longer than anticipated, Lee holds their complete attention.