Michael Morton-Evans
In Lonely Angel, the latest iteration of Selby & Friends, Kathryn Selby once more teams up with husband and wife duo, violinist Dimity Hall and cellist Julian Smiles for an evening of piano trios and an excruciatingly lovely violin meditation by the contemporary Latvian composer, Pēteris Vasks. The concert starts in Spain with the Piano Trio in B minor by Joaquin Turina. Turina studied composition in Paris with Vincent d’Indy who inducted him into the mysteries of cyclical form, i.e. what you hear at the beginning, you’ll hear at the end. So the 3-movement work opens and closes with a robust lento interspersed with a surprisingly restrained Molto Vivace, restrained I should say not by the players but by the composer himself.
From Spain to France and the Piano Trio in D minor by Gabriel Fauré. Written in 1823, a year before his death, this was to be one of his last compositions. By now he was completely deaf and suffering badly from the effects of pneumonia, but the trio could well be the work of a young man, so sprightly and full of vigour is it. A full-bodied opening allegro gives way to what can only be described as a love song written in a style almost identical to that of his English contemporary, Edward Elgar. The work ends with an allegro vivo which has all the agility of his younger years.
After interval comes the Pēteris Vasks work, Lonely Angel. The composer describes it best, saying he had a vision of an angel overlooking the world with grieving eyes, but a loving touch of the angel’s wings brings comfort and healing. “This music,” he says, “is my music after the pain.” The angel here is the violin who has the major role with the cello and piano getting the occasional look-in, but mostly just acting as support for the narrative. It’s beautiful 15 minute cry for a world in pain.
The concert finishes with the Piano Trio No 3 in C minor by Johannes Brahms. We’re used to Brahms’s 4-movement expansive works. This trio has the four movements but is surprisingly contained by comparison. It begins with what one critic once delightfully called a sort of “sit down and shut up” statement, and continues much in that vein through the first movement, giving way to a cheeky call and response presto between the violin and cello in the second movement, followed by a gracious andante, and then finishing in a whirlwind of ensemble playing. These three musicians have played together for such a long time now that they know each other well and their balance is always flawless. Nobody tries to steal the limelight and the result through the entire concert was one of perfection.
It’s not too late to catch it, but you’ll have to be in Adelaide this coming Sunday the 17th!