Elder Hall, University of Adelaide. 25 Aug 2024
Selby & Friends begin their current national tour in Adelaide with an all-Beethoven program of chamber masterworks for violin, piano and cello entitled Triple Treat. Joining Kathryn Selby AM are violinist Susie Park and cellist Timo-Veikko Valve.
The “headline” piece is Carl Reineke’s arrangement of Beethoven’s Concerto in C for Violin, Cello and Piano, Op.56 – usually referred to as the Triple Concerto – and what a fabulous arrangement it is. Arrangements (read ‘reductions’) of concerti are common and the piano often plays the part of the orchestra, but when the concerto also includes the piano as a featured instrument, then the musical equation becomes somewhat more challenging and complicated. Reineke’s arrangement steers a well-crafted path between foregrounding all three instruments and using them to broaden the sound palette to emulate the orchestra. Of course, none of this amounts to much if the trio of players do not sufficiently draw out the distinction between soloist and ensemble. Happily, Selby, Park, and Valve achieve precisely that, and more: their individual and collective performances are refreshing and first rate.
The Triple Concerto is intensely melody driven, and the audience greets its opening bars with smiles as if a welcome friend has come to visit. The beautifully delicate conversation between the piano and cello at the beginning of the second movement, which soon includes a wistful violin, is a highlight of the performance.
The scene for the Triple was set by two Beethoven piano trios from different stages of his compositional life. The Piano Trio in B-flat, Op.11, was written when Beethoven was in his late-twenties – in his so-called ‘early period’, which is typified by Viennese classical elegance, clarity, restraint, and balance, and sometimes by the use of tunes that were familiar to the public. Selby, who often speaks directly to the audience in her concerts about the program being performed, referred to such tunes as ‘street songs”. Indeed, the third movement of the B-flat trio includes ample references to the aria Preia ch’io I’impegno that can be traced back to the opera L'amour Marinaro by Joseph Weigl (who was a friend of Beethoven). Selby, Park, and Valve begin the work with precise, elegant and punctuated phrasing. Selby produces astonishing bell-like tones from the Steinway in the adagio second movement, and Park and Valve capitalise on the jaunty rhythms in the third.
The Piano Trio in E-flat, Op.70, is an altogether different beast. Deriving from Beethoven’s middle period, the Op.70 is harmonically much more sophisticated and this is plainly evident in the very opening of the first movement. The strong almost drone-like phrases in the second movement sees Valve command the piece with Selby and Park providing authoritative lyricism, which continues into the third movement with Selby producing gorgeous filigree phrases in the right hand. In the finale, Park produces stunningly even and vibrant sounds across the full tonal range and across all dynamics. It’s a masterclass in articulation, control and expressivity.
The concert is indeed a triple treat and will be repeated in other centres across the country in the coming week. Highly recommended.
Kym Clayton
When: 25 Aug 2024
Where: Elder Hall
Bookings: Closed
Touring info: selbyandfriends.com.au
