People

By Sara C. Medina

She is a pint-size prodigy, only 14 years old, and she already enjoys a flourishing solo career. New York Times Music Critic John Rockwell has described her as "a truly astonishing technician" with "artistic instincts far more mature than those of a child." On a muggy evening two weeks ago, the Japanese-born Midori showed she was that and more at Massachusetts' Tanglewood festival, where she was playing Leonard Bernstein's difficult Serenade with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, directed by the composer himself. When her E string gave out, she calmly appealed to the concertmaster, who handed over his Stradivarius. When the Strad's E string snapped a few moments later, Midori again turned to the concertmaster, by now playing his associate's Guadagnini. He traded again, and she flawlessly finished the piece, earning a tumultuous ovation from the audience and hugs and kisses from Bernstein and her two lenders. "It was really going for me by then," she said by way of explaining the three-fiddle feat."I really like the work, and I didn't want to stop and spoil it."