Two and a half stars
Faculty Artist Series; Butler University’s Eidson-Duckwall Hall; Sept. 2

Apart from the piano, the violin has the largest repertoire in the world. With so many glorious pieces to choose from, why would someone put not just one, but TWO overplayed concertos on a program? Yes, the Mendelssohn Concerto in E minor is pretty, but it is played too often. The same could be said about the Bruch Concerto in G minor. Not to mention the Bruch is the musical equivalent of cotton candy — there’s no real substance to it; it’s all fluff. I would have been able to forgive the programming of these works if they were played with some real pizzazz, or a completely new interpretation, but that didn’t happen. No one denies that Davis Brooks is a good violinist, yet his Mendelssohn lacked conviction, and his Bruch was humdrum. Brooks programmed some other interesting, jazzy works by Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson and Libby Larsen, but they were like afterthoughts.