News Sentinel, Knoxville, April 25, 2003

St. John sparkles with Knox Symphony

With the lovely violinist St. John playing the role of the short, stocky Shostakovich in his battle with the Stalinist Soviet Union, one must, of course, dispose of the dilemma of beautiful women looking good in everything, including a piece of music that was meant to be bitter and unattractive as it screams and cries instead of sings.

On the other hand, this disguise is part of what made St. John's performance successful even though much of her violin's most tormented declarations played hide-and-seek with the accompanying orchestral textures during the demonic "Scherzo" before finally emerging in the simmering, unconsoling cadenza.'

Far from one of those concertos in which the soloist gets to impress fellow musicians and the audience with blazing virtuosity and gorgeous, lyrical passages, St. John willingly got into the down and dirty business of Shostakovich's musical retaliation against Soviet officials who were too bull-headed and stupid to get its meaning, although the Russian public certainly wasn't.
.