There was a sense of celebration, marred only by the thudding beats of revivalist worship downstairs. A well-filled Town Hall Concert Chamber hosted an audience keen to welcome home some distinguished young Auckland musicians.
This was the final stop on a nationwide tour for John Chen, Natalie Lin and Edward King playing together as CLiK, a piano trio that were also a modest supergroup, considering the achievements of the members.
Importantly, too, Chamber Music New Zealand was marking the first half-century of its annual Chamber Music Contest by showcasing three illustrious alumni. The first half of the evening consisted of solo turns. Granados' Allegro de Concierto suited John Chen well. Always reliable for dealing out glinting brilliance, this was beautifully tempered by melting rubato asides. While a new commission from a young local composer would have been highly appropriate, Lilburn's 1950 Sonata for Violin and Piano fitted well with that composer's centenary.
This is an austere score, from those early, bitter jabs of piano. But somehow, it did not quite take fire. Lin, trapped behind a music stand, seemed cautious, perhaps over-respectful and the work's stoic lyricism was muted.
Edward King then gave us Ginastera's Pampeana No 2 from memory, bringing a sinuous physicality to very physical music. He revelled in both its rhapsodic liberties and, with Chen in full storm mode, its wild rhythmic outbursts.
