Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto is so difficult that many performers either barrel through it or toss it off as though it were an athletic feat.

Not so Jennifer Koh.

Her performance Friday evening with the Honolulu Symphony, under the direction of conductor Rossen Milanov, commanded a well-deserved standing ovation, not just for her impressive technique but for her interpretation.

Koh played with exquisite musicality throughout, fully engaged and "singing" every phrase. Sometimes brutal, even coarse, other times fairy-light, whether lingering over a line or driving so fast the violin seemed on the verge of spontaneously combusting, Koh's playing drew the audience through an emotional wringer.

Audiences have a tendency, when listening to monumentally difficult works, to attend to mistakes, to search for "perfection," as though having all the right notes might constitute a fine performance. But those who heard Friday's performance likely forgot all about tracking notes.

Koh's performance was not so mundane as to be note-perfect; it was instead wild, passionate, unique, personal, intimate. The cadenza, for example, was neither Concerto nor Tchaikovsky, but purely Koh. And although Tchaikovsky's second movement is not one of his greatest, Koh's playing of it would break your heart.

Koh's approach to music resembles philosophy: "There's really a million possibilities for how a phrase can go. Of course, in the end, you'll find most of them won't work out, but it's important to remember the possibilities are there. In life, as in music, there's always a million paths."

Her commitment was influenced by her experience in Russia in 1994-95, when she won the International Tchaikovsky Competition: "It was a time shortly after perestroika and glasnost. The Russian economy was in shambles, but every single concert was packed. People were hanging from the rafters. They said they'd rather go to a concert and feed their soul than have dinner."

Koh's passion for music manifests also in a program called Music Messenger, which brings classical music to young people in this country, Germany and Japan. Koh offers presentations, seminars and master classes as "a means of using music as a language through which to speak and express one's self."

Her motivation arose from the pattern of arts education funding in the U.S., a pattern that has persisted for years and is of great concern to artists and musicians everywhere: "Whenever there are budget cuts, cutting arts programs is always first, but when there's a surplus, the money doesn't come back (into the programs).

"Music has given me so much. I can't imagine looking at one kid and saying, 'You get this opportunity' and then looking at the next and saying, 'You don't.' Everyone should have a chance."

Conductor Milanov matched Koh's performance, giving her expressive latitude and keeping the orchestra in almost perfect balance with Koh. Interaction between Milanov/orchestra and Koh was excellent, especially in their passing of themes back and forth.

Milanov, whose conducting ranged from willowy grace to stiff-armed marionette-ish, elicited excellent performances from the orchestra.

His interpretation of Mozart's Symphony, No.40 in G Minor, was pleasantly conventional, but his interpretation of Copland's "Appalachian Spring" prompted new perceptions.

Milanov said, "Copland established the American style. It has a sense of openness, a very harmonious way, from the bass all the way up. ... Like (the music), the U.S. is perhaps the most optimistic nation in the world. When you're an outsider, you have something new to bring to the piece."