One would not have guessed from her recent performances in a Haydn oratorio and in several recitals of Polish and Russian songs that she could fill Carnegie with fiery, floridly embellished readings of Baroque arias, but she provided a spectacular display of the virtuosity that Handel, Gluck and Vivaldi demand.
In this context-free context, their able and thoughtful efforts seem less like performances than like stunts; the frenetic and spectacular display of actorly work conveys such detached virtuosity that it undercuts, from the start, the very human touch that it signifies, and for which it substitutes.
In a 1986 interview with Down Beat magazine, Di Meola said that the reason for the breakdown was that their performances were designed to "drive the audience berserk" with a display of astonishing virtuosity and that they had run out of new spectacular fast runs to impress the audiences.
Core essences of ballet — academic virtuosity, big-theater projection, formal grace, boy-hunts-girl romantic drama and spectacular ceremony — were forged in the era of 19th-century Romanticism in ways that audiences continue to respect.
No sooner has he finished partnering her through the many spectacular effects of the first than he has to shift gears to produce full-throttle virtuosity himself.
A very frisky threesome soon emerges, danced by the always brimming over with virtuosity Ashley Bouder, Joaquin De Luz (one of the few dancers who manages to combine spectacular athleticism with artistry), and the charismatic Gonzalo Garcia.
That virtuosity was plentiful.
Next she built up virtuosity.
It's also about virtuosity.
The virtuosity stays generalized, though.
