City Recital Hall, Sydney
March 7, 2022
After battling heavy rain and storms, it was a relief to be welcomed into the City Recital Hall. The Musica Viva concert we came to see was well worth the effort!
Bernadette Harvey introduced the concert and welcomed digital viewers on the Musica Viva live stream. A celebrated pianist, she was joined by Harry Bennetts on violin and Miles Mullin-Chivers on cello for this evening of mainly piano trios.
Introducing Australian composer Donald Hollier’s piano trio Little Sea Music, Harvey explained that he had written an extra movement especially for them. It was to be inserted before the last movement. The trio was begun in 2021, during lockdown and was dedicated to the artistic director of Musica Viva, Paul Kildea, an expert on the music of Benjamin Britten. Hollier chose the theme of the opening of Britten’s opera Peter Grimes. As this theme was unsuitable for ‘normal’ variation form, Hollier used other poems about the sea for other movements.
The plaintive violin opening, sensitively played by Harry Bennetts, is answered by piano trills played by Bernadette Harvey. This is a direct homage to the opening of Peter Grimes. The movement expands to involve all three players, the violin at times resembling seagulls.
We are then shocked by an outburst of hectic playing, the players shout the text “Break, break, break”…..from Tennyson’s poem about the sea and death.
The penultimate movement, especially written for this concert tour, reiterates Britten’s opening theme. This time that parts are reversed, with the piano playing the plaintive theme, answered by the “trills” on strings. The trio played this with sensitive expertise.
This thoughtfully written piece ended with a boisterous sea shanty, inspired by John Masefield’s “I must go down to the sea again…” from the poem Sea Fever. The atmosphere of drunks in a tavern is evoked by foot stamping and vigorous playing. The performers’ enthusiasm was evident and their enjoyment was shared by the audience.
The virtuosic playing of musical contrasts continued in Beethoven’s piano trio in D Major, Op 70 No.1., known as “the Ghost”. The first movement began with an explosive outburst in unison (played octaves apart), interspersed with contrasting lyrical interludes on the cello. This theme is developed by Beethoven into more complex contrasts which the trio tackled with aplomb.
The second movement began with eerie high pitched violin and cello playing an octave apart, with the piano playing trembling tremolo chords. This theme is repeated and developed throughout the movement in true Beethoven style. Attempted climaxes descend into sadness and despair. It was this movement that gave the work its nickname “the Ghost”
The last movement was more cheerful – a bright warm relief with serene passages. The trio were exuberant in their playing of the triumphant and abrupt ending.
After Interval, Harry Bennetts and Bernadette Harvey delighted the audience with their passionate rendition of the first movement (Lento doloroso) from Grieg’s Violin Sonata No.2 in G major. This sonata was written during the three weeks of his honeymoon and emphasised his Norwegian character. Harry Bennetts stood and played tunes inspired by Norwegian folk music in an almost gypsy-like manner, while Bernadette Harvey’s part sometimes resembled a guitarist strumming the rhythm. Their enjoyment was evident.
The duet were rejoined by cellist Miles Mullin-Chivers for Maurice Ravel’s Piano Trio in A minor. Begun in 1913, this work was hurriedly completed by September 1914 so that he could enlist, serving as an ambulance driver at the age of 40. Ravel described this work as “Basque in colour” – he identified with the Basque heritage of his mother. He strived to achieve a balance between the three instruments and to make use of the extreme ranges of each instrument. Such writing required extreme technical proficiency and dexterity, which was obviously the case in this performance. Bernadette Harvey, Harry Bennetts and Miles Mullin-Chivers played with sensitivity and passion, engendering feelings of longing, excitement and exaltation, which they shared with the audience.
After joyful and tumultuous applause, the audience dispersed into the drizzly night, warmed and cheered by what they had just experienced.
