Concert Reviews

The Yarra Trio

(9 May, 2009)

On Saturday 9 May, the people of Goulburn were treated to a very special concert when the sublime “Yarra Trio” travelled from Melbourne perform the first concert in the Goulburn Regional Conservatorium’s 2009 Subscriber’s Series. The “Yarra Trio” consists of Jess Ipkendanz (violin), Chris Howlett (Cello) and Stefan Cassomenos (piano).

The program featured five exquisite works, commencing with Mozart’s Piano Trio K 502. This was played perfectly in style. The coordination and understanding between Chris and Jess was particularly beautiful whilst Stefan’s Piano work was exemplary as he interpreted the complexity of his part with ease. After the Mozart, they performed Brahms’ Piano Trio No. 1. This was a virtuosic performance that enthralled the large crowd. Their interpretation was explosive in the first movement followed be a beautifully subtle and sensitive rendition of the second movement. Overall, the “Yarra Trio” presented an incredible reading of this challenging and difficult work.

After the interval, they presented a contemporary work by Azio Corghi entitled “To My Dear B…..” This was a splendidly dissonant piece of music from the Italian Composer that was difficult and complex in both time and harmony. The violin playing of Jess was controlled and expressive throughout and Chris’ use of overtones on the ‘Cello was masterful. The ensemble playing was superb in this interesting contemporary work. Australian Composer Stuart Greenbaum wrote the fourth piece for the evening, “Book of Departures”. This is a beautiful and lyric work that features a shimmering piano part that was masterfully interpreted by Stefan. The piano part laid a solid foundation that in turn gave the strings a lot of flexibility to be lyrical and expressive. This was a great example of high quality original Australian Music and performance. The final work for the evening was Trio Opus 1 by Korngold. This was written in the early 20th Century and consequently shares many characteristics with Romantic Era compositions. Interestingly, Korngold was only 12 years old when he wrote this remarkable and difficult work. Once again, the “Yarra Trio” exhibited superb ensemble playing in their excellent performance of this expressive and interesting work.

Overall, it can be confidently said that the “Yarra Trio” gave one of the finest concerts that Goulburn has ever seen. Later in the year, they will be travelling to Italy to participate in a major international chamber music competition – we wish them well. The next concert in the Goulburn Regional Conservatorium’s Subscription Series will be on Friday 29 May at 7.30pm in Room 12. It will feature the musicians from the Sydney Symphony Orchestra’s “Fellows” Program. These musicians are the most exciting young musicians in the country and are all members of the SSO. Make sure that you book your seats soon as the concert is selling fast.

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