Classic review: Piers Lane and Hiroshi Ikematsu

Concert goers were in safe hands with pianist Piers Lane. Photo/Keith Saunders

Conviviality ruled at Chamber Music New Zealand's final concert for 2018, featuring Australian pianist Piers Lane and Japanese bassist Hiroshi Ikematsu alongside members of the New Zealand String Quartet.

And Franz Schubert had a lot to do with it, his lesser-known Adagio and Rondo Concertante providing a sparkling little overture in the hands of Lane and the NZSQ players. The Adagio, with sprinklings of harmonic salt and pepper, mixed grandeur and whimsy; the ensuing Allegro vivace was a deliciously frothy scamper.

The evening ended with a full cast of five in the composer's celebrated Trout Quintet. Ikematsu's bass, pizzicato, added toe-tapping swing; with bow, he injected almost orchestral grunt. Best of all, his solid presence released Rolf Gjelsten's cello to sing with glorious lyricism in the finale, and earlier, partnering Gillian Ansell's viola.

Japanese bassist Hiroshi Ikematsu.

Throughout the work, but especially in the first movement, one could see as well hear the immense fun being had with Schubert's game of themes. The audience enjoyed a Rossini

Duo

with Ikematsu and Gjelsten as tongue-in-cheek rivals but, for me, its facetiousness wore thin well before its 15 minutes were up.

Ross Harris' Orowaru added gravitas to the evening, its resonant portrait of three New Zealand rivers complementing the Schubert quintet to come. This is a tough, uncompromising score, ingeniously responding to the sonic potential of water; the glassy calm introducing the Hinemaiaia River is a world away from the Tongariro's wild surge. A master at mixing his colours, Harris tints Lane's Debussian ripples with wisps of gnarly strings and, towards the end, a procession of dark, low-down chords took us deep into both the river and our very souls.

What: Chamber Music New Zealand — Piers Lane & Hiroshi Ikematsu
Where: Auckland Town Hall
Reviewed by: William Dart