A tour de force from the Australia Piano Quartet | PHOTOS

In this outstanding concert, we heard Peter Sculthorpe’s ‘Landscapes II’ followed by a delightful early Mozart quartet.

It concluded with the magnificent Sergei Taneyev Piano Quartet from the quartet consisting of Kristian Winter (violin), James Wannan (viola), Tom Rann (cello) and Daniel de Borah on the piano and they were in magnificent form for the occasion.

The Sculthorpe piece is a challenging one, as we sought to find the concord of his discords, but its purpose was never lost on us as he gave us images of indigenous Australia and reflected strains of the Buddhist culture against the sounds of the natural world with suggestions of wildlife in the cries of native birds and insects.

These effects were significantly achieved by the unique use of the piano from Daniel, with the strings plucked and glided on, and with not a single note coming from the keyboard.

The harmonies of the early Mozart Quartet was a perfect piece that was juxtaposed with the discordance of the Sculthorpe.

We revelled in the scintillating grace and joy of this youthful piece and each of the artists used their opportunities to present the music in concert, as well as what they had to show in their individual moments.

There was an excellent afternoon tea provided at interval by Thyme to Taste and the raffle of two CDs was won by Esme.

The magnificent Piano Quartet in E major Opus 20 by Sergei Taneyev occupied the whole of the second half of the program having three substantial movements and lasting for around 40 minutes.

The 40 minutes flew by, however, as the quartet set about the task of its presentation from the stunning first movement with the outburst of colourful sound and, with the impact of the music, which was almost orchestral, produced against the delightful more intimate chamber moments.

The short second movement was full of sweet and memorable references, with a suggestion of sadness from the cello.

It was again the scope of the movement where one could almost believe that it was a piano concerto that we were hearing.

The third movement was huge in its richness with great moments of high renown set against the sweet intimacy of the quartet as it entertained with its nuances and ebbs and flows.

It has been suggested that it almost becomes just music for a string trio and a piano.

Throughout Taneyev shows, his mastery of melody and counterpoint as he directs and extends the ensemble in its richly chamber music format.

The concert was a unique and rich experience from the Australia Piano Quartet for an audience delighted by its choice of pieces and their flawless performance.

The Music Club’s next winter Sunday afternoon fixture on August 12 will feature the glorious soprano Greta Bradman in concert.