Canberra
International Music Festival
The Fitters
Workshop – 12th May 2014
Reviewed by
Bill Stephens
It was an
inspired decision by Artistic Director, Christopher Latham, to present a
showcase of five outstanding violinists
in the context of a new book about the career of a neglected Australian
violinist, Alma Moodie. As we discovered at the book launch which preceded the
concert, Alma Moodie left Australia at the age of nine for studies in
Brussells. Through the tumultuous years of the First World War, the Weimar
Republic and the Third Reich, she forged an exceptional career until her death
in 1943.
Moodie never
returned to Australia, nor are then any recordings existing of her work, but as
author Kay Dreyfus told Sydney Festival Director Lieven Bertels, during their
book launch conversation; she was able to learn much about Moodie’s brilliance by
studying her repertoire. As all the music selections in this concert were
chosen either from repertoire Moodie herself played or from by composers from
Moodie’s milieu, the audience were to discover that in addition to being treated to a thrilling showcase of superb violin playing, their appetites would be thoroughly whetted to learn more about this extraordinary
Australian musician.
 |
| Anna McMichael |
After some
thoughtful pre-concert remarks from the German and Belgian Ambassadors, the
first violinist to perform was Anna McMichael who got the concert off to a
dramatic start with a stunning virtuoso performance of Paul Hindemith’s
unaccompanied “Solo Violin Sonata op.11 No.6”
McMichael attacked the fierce
complexities of this piece with a confidence that was absolutely arresting.
 |
| Rebecca Chan and Timothy Young |
Then
followed the lush, romantic “Violin Sonata in E minor”, by Australian composer, Arthur Benjamin,
played by Rebecca Chan accompanied on piano by Timothy Young. Although
beautifully performed by both musicians, the ultra-bright acoustic of the
Fitters favoured the piano, which often dominated the detailing. In the second
half of the program Chan and Young got full measure of the acoustic to present
a superbly balanced performance of Belgian composer, Georges Antoine’s melancholy
“Assez lent from Violin Sonata”.
 |
| Yuhki Mayne and Rebecca Chan |
Rebecca Chan
was to provide another program highlight when she teamed with young violinist,
Yuhki Mayne for a sparkling performance of a piece by another Belgian composer,
Eugene Ysaye, “Allegro Vivo con fuoco” for which they made ingenious and
amusing use of six music stands to support the sheet music.
 |
| Klara Hellgren and Bengt Forsberg |
Performing
on a glorious 1773 Antonio Gragnani violin, Klara Hellgren, accompanied by
Bengt Forsberg on piano, contributed a compelling account of Igor Stravinsky’s
six-part “Suite italienne”, a piece
which Alma Moodie had performed in concerts with Stravinsky himself. This
intricate suite with its contrasting movements provided an excellent showcase
for Hellgren to display her impressive technique as well as the special
qualities of her superb instrument.
 |
| Berndt Lysell and Bengt Forsberg |
The final
violinist, Bernt Lysell, also teamed with Bengt Forsberg to present a sublime
performance of Dora Pejacevic’s “Adagio from Sonata in B Flat minor op 43”. The pleasure of two consummate
musicians sharing their love of this music, and each other’s performance was
obvious in their performance and very special for their audience. They went on to give a moving performance of
the Fritz Kreisler arrangement of the
famous Dvorak “Negro Spiritual Melody” known
to most as “Going Home”, before providing a masterful finale to what had been
a stunning concert with Erich Korngold’s
romantic “Garden Scene” from “Much
Ado About Nothing”.