BY JOSEPH ASQUITH, LEAD WRITER (EDUCATION)
Smoke, Glass and Mirrors; Musical Subterfuge
Musical Luminati series (hosted by Twilight Musical Dialogues)
Newcastle Music Festival
Adamstown Uniting Church, Newcastle, 3 August
Smoke, Glass and Mirrors; Musical Subterfuge was the third instalment of the 2018 Musical Luminati series, hosted by Twilight Musical Dialogues and which opened the Newcastle Music Festival.
The underlying theme of the night was the secret codes and messages which composers subliminally wove into their works. The program comprised works by Jacques Ibert, Robert Schumann, Arvo Pärt, Andrew Chubb, Johann Sebastian Bach, and Dmitri Shostakovich.
Flautist and artistic director Sally Walker was joined by violinist Aiko Goto and pianist Simon Tedeschi, along with featured young artist, cellist Tobias Reimann.
Jacques Ibert’s Deux Interludes for flute, violin and piano was first on the program. The enigma surrounding Ibert stems from his using the nom de plume of William Berty. Ibert had placed the ‘Y’ at the end of his name, creating Berty. The origin of William, however, is unclear.
Performed by Walker, Goto, and Tedeschi, the performance delineated the pastoral, contemplative, and flirtatious aesthetic of the work; with effective construction of the rhythmic motifs, lyricism, and ornamentation that are simultaneously suggestive of Spanish flamenco music and the French genre La mélodie.
Ibert’s La petit âne blanc followed – a work from a suite of 10 pieces called Histories for solo piano. Tedeschi performed this with wit, panache, and kitsch, doing justice to the subject matter of the piece; a little white donkey.
Robert Schumann’s Scenes from Childhood: Of Foreign Lands and People featured next on the program. Prior to the performance, the audience was granted a short education on Schumann, Bach, Rachmaninov, and Shostakovich’s use of cryptograms in their compositions, around which Tedeschi improvised. It appeared a means of paying homage to, or perhaps even communicating with, Robert’s wife Clara Schumann. As abstract as this message may be, it certainly enhanced the playful, nostalgic, and tender performance that Tedeschi delivered.
Arvo Pärt’s Spiegel im Spiegel (Mirror in the Mirror) was to follow. Performed by Goto and Tedeschi, this piece was delivered with the hypnotic reverie and delicacy for which it is renowned, which was perhaps augmented with the warm stage lighting used. Indeed, the audience seemed totally transfixed by this masterfully engaging performance.
Tedeschi then performed Etude No. 1 for Piano by Phillip Glass. The subtle additive and contracting sequences, imbued within the rippling arpeggios and lyrical melodies, created a momentum both emotionally moving and thought-provoking. Tedeschi artfully and elegantly conveyed the light and shade of euphoria, angst, sorrow, and hope.
Newcastle composer Andrew Chubb’s work Berceuse (Lullaby) featured next. Performed by Walker and Tedeschi, this work is a meditation on the relationship between mother and son; Chubb, indeed, dedicated this work to his own mother. The performance was soulful, poignant, and uplifting; with an emotive quality that was exquisite and moving. As an added gratuity, Chubb was present at the concert, and was given due credit during the applause.
The featured young artist for this concert was 13-year-old cellist Tobias Reimann who performed J.S. Bach’s Suite in G, BWV 1009: Allemande. J.S. Bach often inscribed his initials into his music, which have been said to be a means of connecting himself with God. Indeed, Reimann did justice to this sublime aesthetic of Bach’s music, as he performed this representative Baroque work with maturity, refinement and professionalism; he is certainly a prodigal and promising young performer.
The final work on the program was Five Pieces by Dmitri Shostakovich. Performed by Walker, Goto, and Tedeschi, this piece was vivacious, charming, virtuosic, highly infectious, and even humorous; with deceptive endings and facetious trickery on part of the performers. This performance deservedly received a standing ovation from the audience, followed by an encore performance of Schumann’s Fantasiestuck No. 1.
In Smoke, Glass and Mirrors; Musical Subterfuge, Twilight Musical Dialogues once again executed a superb concert; complete with captivation, edification, inspiration, and enjoyment. The venue, which was at full capacity (perhaps the largest turnout yet for Twilight Musical Dialogues), was indeed filled with anticipation before the concert, and utter satisfaction afterwards.
Have you read Joseph’s interview with Sally about Twilight Musical Dialogues?
Image supplied.
