[20000009] Cello Recital

Cello Recital

Pilgrim Church

6:30pm, Mon 28 Feb 2000

Score: 6

Short Review: Patchy

I love the cello. Love it. Unashamedly, unreservedly. I know squat about classical music, but the tones of the cello just fire me up. So it was with great anticipation that I cruised into the Pilgrim Church on a sultry Monday evening to attend my first cello recital.

Problem 1: it was hot that night and, due to the extensive (albeit attractive) amount of stained glass in the church, it was quite warm inside. Thus it was necessary to strategically place a large number of fans around the inside of the church to try and keep the air moving & the patrons cool(ish). Unfortunately, the aforementioned fans also managed to flip the pages of cellist Belinda Manwaring’s sheet music. Stutter, pause, recovery… but it didn’t do much for the piece.

That said, the Vivaldi Allegros (with Lesley Lewis accompanying on harpsichord) were exceptional, and Paul Hindemith’s “Solo Sonata op.25 No.3” was likewise excellent. The highlight of the recital, however, came from Manwaring’s rendition of Australian Peter Sculthorpe’s “Threnody for solo cello”… this work was incredible, and the cello belied the Aboriginal underpinnings of the work by managing to sound very didgereedoo-esque (!) at some points.

However, the rest of the works left a less palatable taste in the mouth. Maybe I was missing something, not being a huge classical buff… but some parts of the de Fesch and Bononcini sonatas seemed positively devoid of tonal sensibilities. Bummer, because half the program was exceptional.

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