Classical review: Echoes of the Eternal, St Matthew in the City

Eliah Sakakushev-von Bismarck.

There was a real warmth of community at Echoes of the Eternal, a recital by cellist Eliah Sakakushev-von Bismarck and pianist Halida Dinova.

Thanks to Beth Shalom, Auckland's Progressive Jewish congregation, we were offered a fascinating glimpse of the Jewish musical heritage through four composers.

Sakakushev-von Bismarck is Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra's fine principal cello and also an outstanding soloist and chamber musician.

On Saturday night, he had the perfect partner in Cleveland-based pianist Dinova, whose innate sympathies for this music were totally in harmony with his.

Ravel's Kaddish came across as a prayer of welcoming and its mood of almost ecstatic fervour would have touched many hearts; the composer's more equivocal The Eternal Enigma launched the second half of the evening.

This is not familiar territory and, with insufficient information in the printed programme, spoken introductions did not always supply adequate background, even when a particularly discursive one ran for over 10 minutes.

This thoughtfully curated presentation, dealing with often complex histories and issues, would have benefited from solid programme notes.

Musically, there were no complaints. Mendelssohn's Second Cello and Piano Sonata may not have the obviously Jewish colourings of his Violin Concerto; however, Sakakushev-von Bismarck's soulful playing added a distinctly Levantine voice, lacing sinuous lines around the Adagio's staunchly Protestant chorale.

This was Mendelssohn with character. The cellist had related the second movement to A Midsummer Night's Dream and made a capricious delight of it; later, the pair brought subtle nuancing to a Finale that, in less sensitive hands, might have been a heartless rattle.

One missed the orchestra in Max Bruch's Kol Nidrei but again, the players brought out all the passion that drew this German composer to these old Hebrew melodies, picked up through Jewish connections in the Berlin choral world.

Five pieces by Ernest Bloch brought the evening to a heart-stopping close with music that was uncompromisingly contemporary Jewish. The emphasis here was on prayer and supplication, ending with an intensely moving Nigum, effortlessly evoking what its composer described as "the complex, glowing, agitated soul vibrating through the Bible".

What: Echoes of the Eternal
Where: St Matthew-in-the-City
When: Saturday