 |
|
|
|
17 Sep 2008 : Impressive skills and unexpected delights
The NZTrio love to perform programmes of contrast. They have amazing energy and ambition.
All three have achieved impressive individual success in the world of classical music. Violinist Justine Cormack is former concert-master of the Auckland Philharmonia, cellist Ashley Brown was a winner in the TVNZ Young Musicians Competition and the Adam International Cello Competition, and Sarah Watkins has been staff pianist at the prestigious Juilliard School in New York.
They excelled in a joyful opening performance of Beethoven’s Piano Trio op.1 no.1 in E flat major. There was a precision of ensemble, a fluid tenderness of phrasing, and a refreshing clarity in the piano runs.
But their delight is also in presenting the unexpected. Their second choice was a piano Trio by Australian composer Ross Edwards, written in 1999. This was atmospheric music – engaging and imaginative – influenced by bird-song and the sounds of summer insects. The first movement was lucid and calm, conveying sparkling sun on sea on a clear summer’s day. Very appropriate for yesterday’s Nelson air. The second movement involved an intimate, melancholy dialogue between violin and cello – an invocation, followed by a loving response.
The final movement was in lively ¾ time, describing a “maninya”, or Australian dance chant, influenced by insect patterns.
However, the piece de resistance was a newly commissioned work by New Zealand composer Phil Dadson entitled Firestarters (zones of darkness and unexpected light). The stage was darkened, after an assortment of experimental instruments had been assembled. An additional violin and cello were laid flat with brass rods through their strings, and “osti-fans”, small enough to be hand-held, were used to produce a ventilator effect inside the piano and on the stringed instruments. The Steinway was stuffed with stones and golf-balls. Nothing is sacred for Dadson, founder of percussion group From Scratch. There were eerie, seductive sirens, whilstling bird sounds, bowing of the insides of the piano, drumming of the cello and violin boxes, slap pizzicato, buzzing motorised sounds produced by the osti-fans, and blowing into the cello f-holes. Throughout, there was a degree of risk and absurdity. But it worked. The audience was intrigued.
After re-arranging the piano, the NZTrio launched into Brahms’ Piano Trio in C minor with heroic energy and passion. The surging romantic phrases and turbulent cross-rhythms were delivered with mercurial speed, especially on the keyboard. The andante was full of muted grace and love, and the final presto was a triumphant evolution into C Major.
This was an excellent, varied concert to a small but highly enthusiastic audience.
Margot Hannigan – The Nelson Mail
|
|
|
|
|
