 |
| Dene Olding AM (V1) - Dimity Hall (V2) - Kathryn Selby AM (P) - Julian Smiles (C) - Irina Morozova (V) |
James
Fairfax Theatre, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, May 17, 2024
Reviewed by
BILL STEPHENS.
As soon as
it was announced that the Goldner Quartet had decided to disband, but would be
doing a lap of honour
The Goldner
Quartet is considered Australia’s pre-eminent string quartet, ranking among the
best in the world. It is unique in that it has maintained the same four members
(two married couples) throughout its 30 years of existence.
Individual
members of the quartet have worked with Kathryn Selby in various combinations
over several decades, but this is the first time the entire Goldner String
Quartet have joined her for this seven concert tour.
Appropriately
the repertoire selected for the tour was chosen from works of particular
significance to the quartet, which, having a pianist of Selby’s brilliance available
to them, took the opportunity to include two favourite piano quintets, Mozart’s
own arrangement of his Piano Concerto,
No. 12 in A Major, and Shostakovich’s Piano
Quintet in G minor, Op.57, which they teamed with Tchaikovsky’s String Quartet No. 1 in D Major.
The intimacy
of the James Fairfax Theatre provided the perfect ambiance as most of the
audience were familiar with the Goldner Quartet and aware of the significance
of the occasion, and therefore keen to demonstrate their appreciation for the
pleasure derived from the Goldner Quartet’s concerts over the years.
Of course there
were others, like this reviewer, who were well aware of the Goldner Quartet’s reputation
and accomplishments from their recordings and DVDs, and had even experienced the
talent of individual members as a result of their participation in the Selby
& Friends concerts, but had not had the opportunity previously to experience the
Goldner Quartet live in performance together, and were therefore keen to take advantage
of this opportunity to rectify that situation. What a treat the actuality
turned out to be.
As is her
habit, Kathryn Selby introduced the quartet. Then, after expressing her
pleasure at the opportunity of being able to share in their music-making, took
her place at the piano and they launched into the Mozart Concerto.
Such was the
atmosphere that audience members hardly dared to breathe. Every member was aware of being privy to the rare
opportunity of sharing a special moment with life-long friends who have been
making music together for decades luxuriating in one of their last opportunities
to revisit favourite works together and share their unique individual musical insights
with each other.
The Mozart
was perfection in execution, blend and phrasing. It was difficult to imagine
how it could be interpreted with more insight or skill.
Similarly
with Tchaikovsky’s Accordion Quartet,
full of temperament and passion, except in the famous second movement, Andante Cantabile which is based on a
Ukrainian folk song and often performed on its own. Dene Olding’s violin could
not have sung more sweetly, nor could Dimity Hall (violin), Irina Morozova
(Viola) or Julian Smiles (cello) have blended their instruments with more care
or insight. Simply exquisite.
The final offering
was Shostakovich’s intriguing Piano
Quintet in G Minor which, unlike most quintets where the instruments blend,
gives each instrument its individual voice. Haunting, sometimes folksy, discordant
or melancholy but always unmistakably Russian, each of the musicians revelled
in capturing the exact tone and mood of what is arguably Shostakovich’s most
famous work.
Responding
to the audience applause, the five musicians offered a superb excerpt from Shostakovich’s
2nd Piano Concerto as a very welcome encore.
Happily, just
in case you’re reading this and fretting because you missed this memorable
concert, or would like to relive the experience, you might be interested to
learn that Artsound FM recorded this concert for future broadcast by Artsound
FM 92.7. The broadcast date will be published on the Artsound website.
Image by Dalice Trott
This review also published in AUSTRALIAN ARTS REVIEW. www.artsreview.com.au