Concert Reviews 2008
February Concerts and The Coal Valley Chamber Music Festival
Soprano's ability a highlight | |
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REVIEW The Coal Valley Chamber Music Festival Lucy Carrig-Jones. Anthea Hetherington, Chris Nicholas, Yue Hong Cha, violins; Jo St Leon, viola; Brett Rutherford, cello; Stephen Martin, double bass; Annalisa Kerrigan, soprano; Genevieve Lang, harp. Meadowbank Estate THE opening concert of Virtuosi Tasmania's five-day festival featured mainly Baroque works performed by the Virtuosi Strings, with accomplished continue from Genevieve Lang on harp. Vigilance and teamwork from all contributed to a bright rendering of Corelli's Concerto Grosso Op 6 No 5. An unexceptional Mozart's Divertimento K137 was followed by diligent treatment of the contrasting |
movements of Handel's Concerto
Grosso Op 6 No 2, revealing all its variety and depth.
Popular guest soloist Annalisa Kerrigan displayed astounding accuracy and clarity in Music for a While by Purceil, Handel's Rejoice Greatly, and the Queen of the Night aria of Mozart.
Her faultless Dido's Lament by Purceil lacked necessary tension, which may have been achieved with a softening of the string accompaniment.
An extremely moving rendition of My Love, When He Returns by Pai-siello attests to Kerrigan's increasing capability for coloratura repertoire.
Future concerts during the festival are at Stoney Vineyard (today at 11am and tomorrow at 7pm), with the final concert at St John's Church, Richmond, on Monday at 11am. Elizabeth Ruthven Mercury 9/2/2008 |
Violinist gives old favourites new lease of life | |
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REVIEW: The Coal Valley Chamber Music Festival Peter Tanfield, violin, David Bollard, piano. Stoney Vineyard. EDVARD Grieg's three violin sonatas are rarely performed today. On the evidence of this fine performance of the second of these works, Violin Sonata Op. 13 in G major, this is a great pity. This charming and tuneful work was played with Tanfield's usual passion and commitment after a few tuning problems at the start. He was ably partnered by David Bollard. Indeed, the works chosen for this concert reflected Tanfield's interest in reviving music once popular with audiences which has gone out of fashion. The music of violinist Fritz Kreisler featured | prominently in the program. Confections such as Liebesleid and Liebesfreud were once regular encore choices of many violinists. Kreisler was also fond of writing pastiche "baroque" pieces and attributing them to composers such as W. F. Bach and Gaetano Pugnani.
The Praeludium and Allegro, after Pugnani, in particular, is a fine piece.
These works were well performed by these artists, although at times Tanfield's playing lacked a little of his customary accuracy and polish. Perhaps he is still adapting to his new violin.
The final piece was a movement from Dohnanyi's Ruralia Hungarica. This delightful music received probably the best playing of the evening. Peter Donnelly Mercury 11/2/2008 |
Sound Interpretation | |
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REVIEW: The Coal Valley Chamber Music Festival Jane Edwards, soprano: David Bollard, piano; Peter Tanfield, violin; Jo St Leon, viola; Ivan James, cello; Stephen Martin, double bass. THE superb acoustics at Stoney Vineyard provided the perfect venue for this second concert of this enterprising festival. Singer Jane Edwards' fine and cultured interpretations reflected an awareness of the styles needed for songs by Ravel, Hahn, Brahms and Mendelssohn. David Bollard on piano provided | sensitive support; as did Jo St Leon's viola in Brahms' Two Songs With Viola Op. No. 91. Schubert's Piano Quintet in A (Trout), D. 667 occupied the rest of the program. This ever fresh and youthful-sounding work was played with vitality and enjoyment. Bollard on piano and Peter Tanfield on violin provided the anchor for fine ensemble work from the players. Stephen Martin's work on double bass to the bucolic Austrian peasant music sounds in the scherzo, were particularly enjoyable. Peter Donnelly Mercury 12/2/08 |
Jazz played with pizzazz | |
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REVIEW: The Coal Valley Chamber Music Festival, third concert. At Stoney Vineyard. THE third concert in Virtuosi Tasmania's five-day chamber music festival was entitled "A Tribute to Bill Evans" and featured well-known jazz charts performed by local musicians Randal Muir (piano), Stephen Martin (double bass), Eric Johnstone (drums) and Maria Lurighi (vocals). This intimate performance opened with two-instrumental works, My Romance by Rodgers and Hart, and Peri's Scope by Bill Evans. | The three-piece ensemble was joined by vocalist Maria Lurighi for a stirring rendition of Victor Young's My Foolish Heart, which also showed off the improvisational skills of double bassist Stephen Martin. The ensemble's versatility was highlighted during the second half of the concert, which included an instrumental waltz by Bill Evans, a bossa nova chart by Brazilian composer Antonio Carlos Jobim, Miles Davis' metrically palindromic Blue in Green and Cole Porter's classic What Is This Thing Called Love. Carolyn Philpott Mercury 12/2/08 |
Virtuosi live up to name | |
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REVIEW: The Coal Valley Chamber Music Festival St John's Camerata Peter Tanfield, director and solo violinist ST JOHN'S, the oldest Catholic Church in Australia, provided the perfect setting for the final concert in Virtuosi Tasmania's five-day chamber music festival. The program opened with two concerti grossi: Corelli's Concerto Grosso Op. 6 No. 5 in B flat major and Handel's Concerto Grosso Op. 6 No. 6. While there were occasional issues with intonation, these challenging works were performed with great skill and musicianship and showed the dedication of director Peter | Tanfield and his promising ensemble. In J.S Bach's Violin Concerto in A minor, Tan-field displayed his versatility as a soloist. The lyrical melodies of the slow movement were particularly moving, while the finale drew some fine fast-paced playing from the ensemble. The concert ended with Holst's St Paul's Suite, a bright and sophisticated piece. The third movement was particularly effective, with Tanfield's lyrical solo violin line gently supported by a pizzicato accompaniment from the ensemble, while the final movement, with its echoes of Greensleeves, provided a delightful close to this enjoyable performance and festival. Carolyn Philpott Mercury 13/2/2008 |
April Concerts
Quartet sets high tone for Cressy church's big day | |
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THE Virtuosi Tasmania Quartet gave the Cressy Trinity Church's sesquicentenary celebrations a stylish start, performing Mozart and Beethoven in the historic building yesterday. The four members of the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra delighted more than 130 people who packed into the small church. The Rev. Alan Bulmer said the day had been a wonderful way to kick off the church's 150th year celebrations. "We were really squashing them in, but we got them all in, and we got some wonderful feedback," Mr Bulmer said. |
The commemorations will continue on May 18 when the Bishop of Tasmania, the Right Rev. John Harrower, visits the church to dedicate its new stained-glass windows, prayer desks, processional cross, altar linen and amenities block.
"The church's motto is 'celebrating the past but embracing the future'," Mr Bulmer said. "The parishioners are getting ready to go on and look forward." Holly Ranson The Examiner Monday 28/4/2008 |
September Concerts
Rare, witty, rewarding | |
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REVIEW: Virtuosi Tasmania Berwald and Francaix Chris Waller (clarinet), John Panckridge (bassoon), Wendy Page (horn), Lucy Carrig-Jones and Miranda Carson (violins), William Newbery (viola), Paul Taylor (cello) and Stephen Martin (double bass) Peppermint Bay Woodbridge A GORGEOUS spring day and a beautiful venue certainly provided the perfect setting for a Saturday morning of fine chamber music. It is pleasing to report that, musically, something rather special was also on offer. The works chosen, while virtually unknown to the wider musical public, complemented each other superbly in the hour-long program. | Swedish composer Franz Berwald's Grand Septet in B flat major is a wonderfully accomplished piece. Published in 1828, the year after Beethoven's death, it is scored for the same instruments as those used in that composer's better-known Septet.
The Jean Francaix Octet 'A huit' of 1972 is, if anything, even more appealing, with its witty scherzo and delightful waltz finale. It follows the Schubert F major Octet model for its instrumentation. The playing by these musicians from the TSO was charming and finely judged throughout, with some excellent virtuoso playing of the sometimes difficult fast sections in the Francaix work. Peter Donnelly Mercury 14/9/2008 |
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