Selby& Friends
Kathryn Selby, piano
Andrew Haveron,
violin
Tobias Breider, viola
Miles Mullin-Chivers,
cello
Llewellyn Hall 10 May
Reviewed by Len Power
For their latest tour, Selby & Friends performed works
by Paul Stanhope, Gabriel Fauré and Antonin Dvořák. She was joined on this tour by three artists,
Andrew Haveron (violin), Tobias Breider (viola) and Miles Mullin-Chivers
(cello).
The concert commenced with Australian, Paul Stanhope’s “My Song Is Love Unknown”. Composed in 2000, this beautiful work, based on the 17th Century hymn by Samuel Crossman, was the perfect choice to open the concert. The quartet gave it a fine performance, bringing out its reflective lyrical qualities as well as its underlying tensions.
The second item was Gabriel Fauré’s Piano Quartet No. 1 in C minor, Op. 15. The work, in four movements was composed in 1879. This was played superbly, especially the liveliness and intricacy of the second movement and the hint of sadness in the slow third movement.
After interval, the quartet played Antonin Dvořák’s Piano Quartet No. 2 in E flat major, Op. 87. Composed in 1889, this melodic work was also given an excellent performance. Cellist, Miles Mullin-Chivers, played with especially notable sensitivity in the second movement and the lively final movement was almost breathlessly exciting. You could sense how much the quartet were enjoying playing it.
Another of the delights of a Selby & Friends concert is the introduction to the works by the artists. Kathryn Selby, Andrew Haveron and Miles Mullin-Chivers gave very interesting, learned and polished information about the works we were about to hear. It established an immediate rapport between performers and audience, making us feel an intimate part of the whole experience.
Pianist, Kathryn Selby, is the Artistic Director of the nationally touring Selby & Friends which is now in its 16th season. She has won prizes in numerous national and international competitions and performed with many renowned Australian and international chamber ensembles and orchestras.
Violinist, Andrew Haveron, is Concertmaster of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and has performed extensively overseas and nationally. He was also first violinist with the Brodsky Quartet.
Violist, Tobias Breider, teaches at the Sydney Conservatorium and is a member of Ensemble Q in Brisbane. Originally from Germany, he has played in Europe and the USA and Qatar.
Cellist, Miles Mullin-Chivers, has performed at the Canberra International Music Festival, the Four Winds Festival and has toured for Musica Viva. He was a Sydney Symphony Orchestra Fellow for 2020 and 2021.
Len Power's reviews
are also broadcast on Artsound FM 92.7 in the ‘Arts Cafe’ and ‘Arts About’
programs and published in his blog 'Just Power Writing' at https://justpowerwriting.blogspot.com/.