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| Angie Milliken and the Takacs Quartet |
Presented by Musica Viva Australia -Artistic Director: Paul
Kildea
Concert on 16th August 2025 reviewed by BILL
STEPHENS
In his program notes, Musica Viva Australia's Artistic Director, Paul Kildea,
explains how he hit upon the idea of commissioning Brisbane born composer,
Cathy Milliken to work with the Takacs Quartet to create a work inspired by the
Bertolt Brecht poem Sonnet of an Emigrant to celebrate Musica Viva’s 80th
year. The idea resonated with him because so many of the artists presented by
Musica Viva since its establishment have experienced displacement.
For Cathy Milliken, a distinguished composer as well as a Brecht
scholar, based in Berlin and living in an apartment overlooking the Berliner
Ensemble Theatre established by Brecht and his wife, Helen Weigel, the
commission provided the opportunity, not only to work with the Takacs Quartet,
but also to compose a work to showcase the talents of her sister, actress,
Angie Milliken.
The subject of displacement was also a familiar one to each
of the members of The Takacs Quartet, itself celebrating its 50th
year of performances.
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| THE TAKACS QUARTET Edward Dusinberre - Harumi Rhodes - Andras Fejer - Richard O'Neill |
The Takacs Quartet consists of Edward Dusinberre and Harumi
Rhodes (violins), Richard O’Neill
(viola), and Andras Fejer (cello), and although only cellist Fejer is an
original member, the four play with such dazzling synchronicity and attention
to detail that the opportunity to hear them premiere an original contemporary work
by an Australian composer provided an unforgettable celebration of Musica Viva’s Eightieth year.
This fact was highlighted by Cathy Milliken when she
introduced her work emphasising that it was also 80 years since the first
Jewish immigrants came to Australia, and that the eight Brecht poems she had
chosen for her composition expressed their sense of displacement on leaving their
country and finding a new home.
In stark contrast to the joyful Haydn String Quartet that preceded
it, Milliken’s Sonnet of an Emigrant contrasted harsh, unsettling
scraping sounds against the quiet beauty of Angie Milliken’s perfectly placed
speaking voice as she spoke Brecht’s poems, mostly in English, but also in
German, intricately embedded in discordance and unusual percussive sounds.
If occasionally the strings overwhelmed the words, this was hardly
surprising in a live performance of a work that demanded extraordinary synchronisation
from the narrator and the instrumentalists. Indeed, it added to the emotional
intensity inherent in the composition and left the audience in no doubt that it
had been present at the unveiling of a major new work.
Book-ending the feature work, were exhilarating renditions
of two more familiar compositions which allowed the quartet full rein to
demonstrate why it is considered one of the world’s great string quartets.
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| THE TAKACS QUARTET Edward Dusinberre (Violin) - Richard O'Neill (Viola) - Harumi Rhodes (Violin) - Andras Fejer (cello) |
For the Hayden String Quartet in G Minor which opened
the program, the four musicians immediately established that they were so on top
of the technicalities of the piece, that their attention would be focused on exploring
the nuances.
The confident interplay between the four as they each
achieved special moments is one of the pleasures of experiencing them live. Violinist,
Edward Dusinberre leads with a dignified charm and an air of calm control, while
cellist Andreas Fejer, the senior member of the quartet, smiles to himself
whenever he, or a colleague, produces a particularly beautiful note or phrase.
Violinist, Harumi Rhodes and violist Richard O’Neill were even
more animated. Both perch on the edges of their chairs. To signal the others they
lean forward intently, make constant eye contact, and smile approval.
O’Neil goes even further, often jumping into the air during
a particularly exciting passage, or gazing intently at the audience when deep
in concentration.
All of this was particularly evident in the bravura rendition
of the Beethoven String Quartet in C major (Razumovsky) which ended the
program, during which the four musicians took the composer at his word with his
Allegro molto instruction for the final movement, threw caution to the
wind, clearly delighting each other, and their adoring audience, with a
virtuosic, breakneck-speed race to the end.
No way they were going to get away after that, so the
quartet generously calmed their over-excited audience with a drop-dead gorgeous
rendition of the second movement from Ravel’s String Quartet.
Those who stayed for the relaxed and informative “Meet the
Artists” talk learned that the ABC will be recording Milliken’s Sonnet for an
Emigrant for later release.
Photos by Cameron Jamieson
This review also published in AUSTRALIAN ARTS REVIEW. www.artsreview.com.au