BY CUTCOMMON
August is almost out, and this winter season has been wrapping up with some Intimate Salon Experiences. To celebrate 15 years of live music in the Melbourne Recital Centre, we’ve been checking out what’s on as part of this concert series, and showcasing the incredible range of talent that Australian audiences have the opportunity to hear on their local stages.
Before we get to our September mix, there are still a few concerts left to fill out the final days of winter. Orava Quartet will premiere a new Australian work when they perform on August 30, and we have put together an interview for you to check out before their big event. The group’s co-founding cellist Karol Kowalik tells you why he’s looking forward to performing this new music — alongside a piece from Debussy he says includes his “favourite movement ever written!”.
A little sooner, Markiyan Melnychenko (below) will perform a Concert for Ukraine on August 28. The Ukrainian-Australian violinist is using the power of music to help raise support for a children’s hospital in Kyiv. Melbourne musicians including cellist Josephine Vains and pianists Stewart Kelley and Peter de Jager will perform as part of this fundraising effort, which includes local premieres of classical works that showcase the rich musical culture of Ukraine.
Heading into September, the first event on our Intimate Salon Experiences calendar is Kristian Chong & Friends – Quartet for the End of Time. Kristian (below) is a pianist and a familiar face to Melbourne Recital Centre audiences — he has performed a series of concerts with some of his good friends who just so happen to be some of the finest musicians in Australia.
Here, cellist Josephine Vains makes another appearance in the series, performing alongside violinist Dale Barltrop and clarinettist Philip Arkinstall. Together, they will make up the ensemble of instruments for which Messiaen composed his deeply stirring chamber work Quartet for the End of Time. It was first performed in a German war camp in 1941; the composer had become a prisoner of war the year prior. Beyond its apocalyptic title, he uses the clarinet to share lyrical melodies reminiscent of birdsong — a striking juxtaposition between the beauties of nature and the tragedies of World War II. This emotive performance will take place on September 5 in the Primrose Potter Salon.
On September 13, Jackie Bornstein (below) will sing about Peace & Love in the Intimate Salon Experiences series. The range of languages in the songs she has selected — from English to French and Portuguese — reflects the vibrant and diverse cultural evolution of jazz around the world.
Jackie is a Melbourne singer who specialises in jazz and bossa nova — and is passionate about the way jazz can be used for social justice. Off the stage, Jackie has studied the influence of music in resolving conflicts. Her Peace & Love performance will feature songs by artists from Duke Ellington to Eden Ahbez and Antônio Carlos Jobim.
If you’re keen to keep up the momentum of live music, the next day Vardos will perform their homage to Women of Eastern European Music. On September 14, this ensemble featuring violinist Alana Hunt, double bassist Kirri Büchler, and accordionist Sofia Chapman will take you on a journey through the traditional folk and gypsy music that has inspired them, which they have drawn from their travels to Hungary and Romania.
Nearing the end of September, you will have the chance to hear one of the most beloved pieces of music from one of the most beloved composers of all time: the Bach Cello Suites. First Josephine Vains (below) will play the Cello Suite No.6 in D on a baroque cello, which boasts an extra string compared to its modern counterpart. Josephine, who features heavily in this month’s Intimate Salon Experiences, is a leading music educator who navigates historical and modern performance practices.
Cellist Richard Narroway will play the fourth suite, having recorded all of them and written an extensive exploration into his approach to the suites and their history, which you can take a look at if you’d like some deeper insight into this performance. David Berlin, who has spent decades in the seat of principal cello with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, will play the first suite. Hear these three compositions from the Baroque legend on September 24 in the Primrose Potter Salon.
Images supplied. Kristian by John Tsiavis. Vardos by Annie Brown.
