Tamas Vesmas and Alexander Ivashkin at the Art Gallery

By TARA WERNER

AUCKLAND ART GALLERY - Matters of style can also be said to be matters of taste. So it was clear that on Saturday night both Tamas Vesmas and Alexander Ivashkin liked their music flamboyantly bold.

This rather overwhelmingly extravagant approach was evident in all the works performed whether Beethoven, Brahms, Debussy or Piazzolla. It may have been appropriate for the weighty Sonata No 2 Opus 99, by Brahms, but surely not for Debussy's late 1915 Sonata for Violoncello and Piano with its quicksilver changes of mood.

Such evocative music required a more subtle interpretation. Only in the passages in the Serenade evoking Spanish guitar music did the duo settle into a delicate performance, but by the finale they were back into their excessive manner.

Beethoven's Sonata for Piano and Violoncello Op 69 also received "in-your-face" treatment, especially from Ivashkin whose cello tone tended to dominate in the first movement. The only real respite came with the all too short adagio cantabile passage that introduced the finale, here played with surprising restraint.

Otherwise this gem from Beethoven's second period sounded decidedly late romantic as a result of its highly lush interpretation.

Luckily the Brahms Sonata No 2 Op 99 was able to withstand the duo's exuberant approach, much in keeping with its overall grandeur. At last both pianist and cellist seemed to be in their element, especially relishing the sudden outbursts in the allegro passionate.

Finally, Piazzolla's showpiece Le Grand Tango showed the composer understood the cello totally, providing it with some fiendishly difficult passages - all handled with aplomb by Ivashkin, while Vesmas also seemed to enjoy the tango flavour.

Nonetheless this was a concert characterised disappointingly by its unnecessary self-indulgence.