In July of 2015 I recorded this performance from television as an afterthought for some music to hear late at night. Little did I know this would turn out to be a three and a half hour immersive experience which I would then repeat two days later - I simply had to experience the whole thing all over again.

Alina performed Bach’s complete Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin, split across two concerts. Before we say anything else, the sheer mental feat of doing this without seeing the score, is a wonder and a marvel for those who love the human brain. Alina's must be one of the best examples.

Such a feat of memory is admirable in itself, but the brain has to perform other tasks simultaneously in order to do what she did. The musician has to interpret the score with this instrument. As Alina herself explained, there is even an element of improvisation; violins are not all identical, they throw up surprises which a virtuoso will use to good advantage by revealing something new. Just as in literature, a musical score can contain multiple meanings simultaneously and new ones can be found almost without end.

At a more basic level, the brain has to concentrate, and it has to manage so many aspects of standing on stage live with millions more watching on television. The mental and physical stamina required was astonishing. And to hold all that together for over three hours takes ability of another order. This was not a studio recording where you can pause for breath, take a break, repeat a take, and know that you can correct anything that goes wrong. It takes a special talent to perform such music, quite apart from the musical ability of playing the instrument itself or memorising so much complex music off the score-sheet.

How can it be that a single, solo instrumentalist in a huge Royal Albert Hall can hold such an audience, or a single TV viewer, spellbound for so long? This was the purest expression of music. Nothing to hang on to, and no visual aid apart from her solitary figure, standing, without even a music-stand, on that vast stage, obviously without amplification, moving ever so modestly under the physical exertion of simply holding the violin for such long hours, let alone playing such complex music.

Alina had stage presence and the ability to communicate with her audience through that violin to a degree that gripped the listener from one moment to the next, giving no respite, not for one second. And each time you thought you heard one incredible thing, here came another much more astonishing. Credit to her audience too for appreciating what was unfolding before their very eyes - and nobody clapped till the very end.

Bach's genius demands virtuosity of a different level and Alina Ibragimova has what it takes. At times it sounded like she was playing two violins. I was trying to figure out how that worked and could not. For the entire duration, twice over, I could not tear myself away from listening as well as watching something which seemed impossible for mere non-musician mortals to take in. It was the most profound experience.

I know now that the rest of her repertoire is enormous, but I think what I witnessed that night was the most impressive performance for the sheer length and difficulty of the music, and for the conditions it took place in.

© John K Smyrniotis
London 2015