It was a cold walk to an evening concert at Christ Church in Daylesford under a bright, waxing, gibbous moon last Friday. Sensibly, the very respectable audience for such a bitter night – one competing with the AFL finals – mostly drove to the Church to be greeted by aperitifs and a chat with friends before the concert.
The concert was not only an experiment with time of day, but also in musical style. String duets are not that common and 20th century classical music can be an acquired taste. More tonal dissonance, conflicting rhythms, more repetition. In this case Prokofiev and Bartok.
The duo, Patrick Savage and Yuri Zhislin are world class musicians. Colleagues since college, they are genuinely virtuoso performers. And their concert on the night was no exception. Savage, who has his roots in Bendigo, now based in London, has a stellar career as a soloist, chamber musician and composer including film scores. Zhislin has a similarly spectacular career.
They began the program with Mozart’s string duo number 1 for violin and viola in G major. A piece in three movements (fast, slow and contrasting). Mozart’s rich textured, counterpointed style cleverly creates the sense of much more than two instruments.
From there, Savage and Zhislin moved progressively to the 20th century beginning with Martinu’s three madrigals for violin and viola followed by Halversen’s variations on Handel – not quite 20th century, but close. The madrigals retain much of the romantic and lyrical style of the 18th and 19th century. Halversen’s clever variations on Handel followed. Then the interval.
The first half was a progressive warm up for the more challenging Prokoviev and Bartok, at least for the more conservative listener, with some fascinating commentary from Patrick Savage, who is not only a fabulous musician, but an excellent and engaging speaker.
In the second half Gliére’s five pieces from the twelve duets for two violins set the scene. These pieces, orginally intended for teaching continued the romantic style. The teaching theme was continued with Prokoviev, who was one of Gliére’s early students.
Prokofiev’s sonata for two violins in C major is a four movement master piece of 20th century contrapuntal lines and tonal variations providing a complex dialogue between the two violins. This was probably the highlight of the program, although the duelling violins (banjos) in the encore was a close second. The Bartok that followed was a fun set of pieces designed as practice pieces for violin students, again in the tonal and rhythmic style of 20th century classical music.
It is truly a remarkable privilege to be able to experience world class performance in the intimacy of Christ Church in a little country town, particularly if you can snaffle a seat in first two or three pews. The Christ Church concerts are an experience not to be missed, but dress warmly if it’s a cold night.
