Robert Manley (piano) and Robert Harris (viola). Photo: Nick Horn
Music / A Viola in Bloom, Robert Harris and Robert Manley. At Tuggeranong Arts Centre, October 17. Reviewed by NICK HORN.
Robert Harris (viola) and Robert Manley (piano) presented an attractive, and eclectic, mix of music on the theme of “B”– for the composers’ names, and all borrowed for the viola from other instruments.
The boutique theatre at Tuggeranong Arts Centre offered an intimate venue for a presentation of some (undeservedly) lesser-known works – with others familiar only in different settings – introduced informally by the performers.
The piano often takes a subsidiary role in such chamber concerts, but this afternoon we enjoyed a conversation between equals.
Manley’s playing in particular was exemplary in adapting his touch and feel for each different style in the program, which ranged from Bach to Bacharach.
His detailed attack and phrasing was evident from the start with Bach’s Sonata in G for viola da gamba (1720), a beautiful arrangement concluding with a seamless segue into Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring.
Harris played with a lovely warm tone throughout, though in some of the cello adaptations (and the Bach) one might have wished for a slightly more shaped and intense approach to reflect the darker sound of the cello originals.
With Beethoven’s 12 Variations on See the Conquering Hero Comes, from Handel’s Judas Maccabeus (1796, cello and piano), the piano took centre stage in a series of lively sketches evoking rapidly shifting moods. Manley tossed off virtuosic passages with insouciance, slowing the pace effectively in more reflective moments, while Harris’ lyrical playing complemented the pianist’s more extroverted contributions.
The duo then offered a trio of soulful romantic works borrowed from Hebrew melodies. Manley set the scene for Max Bruch’s Kol Nidrei (1880, cello and orchestra) with a series of beautifully spaced chords. Granville Bantock’s Hamabdil, (1919, cello and harp, prettily rendered in rippling piano arpeggios) featured the lower register of Harris’ viola. The set concluded with a gorgeous, mysterioso rendition of Ernest Bloch’s Jewish Melody (from Jewish Life, 1924, cello and piano).
Two Béla Bartók miniatures from For Children followed, evocative fragments stripped back to a minimum. Australian Arthur Benjamin’s familiar Jamaican Rumba (1938, piano) and the poignant Song of the Banana Carriers (1957, voice and piano) followed, the latter throwing considerable shade on Mr Belafonte’s more familiar version of this Jamaican work song.
Johannes Brahms’ Scherzo from the F-A-E Sonata (1853, violin and piano) was the highlight of the afternoon. The dramatic “doorknock” theme introduced a composition full of swirling movement, which received a particularly impassioned performance from Harris on viola. Brahms’ grand gestures gave room for the pair to most fully realise the potential of their ensemble sound.
The program concluded sweetly with Leonard Bernstein’s Dream With Me (from Peter Pan), Paul McCartney’s Yesterday and Burt Bacharach’s proposal for world peace. The small but appreciative audience left with much-needed love in their hearts from a delightful and engaging recital.
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