Greytown Music Group is delighted to present another slightly unusual concert – APO concertmaster Andrew Beer, and principal harpist Ingrid Bauer.
Both are keen chamber musicians as well as orchestral players, and discussions about playing some duo repertoire together eventually culminated in their first duo concert in December 2022.
Andrew will be familiar to local audiences, having played in Greytown previously as part of the Levansa Trio, and with pianist Sarah Watkins. He “likes to mix things up on the duo front”, so we now welcome him back to Greytown with the violin and harp duo.
The varied programme of Romantic and twentieth century works is bookended by two significant original pieces for violin and harp, by Thomas Rajna and Camille Saint-Saens.
Rajna was born in Hungary, studied and made his name in London as a composer and pianist. His Suite for Violin and Harp was composed for the 7th World Harp Congress in Prague in 1999.
The Saint-Saens Fantaisie is a virtuoso piece for both players. The use of harp, rather than the more typical piano, lends a special delicate sonority to the music.
The programme also includes Caprice for violin by Sophie-Carmen Eckhardt-Grammatte, Impromptu for harp by Gabriel Pierne, Kenneth Young’s Three Folk Songs, Astor Piazzolla’s Histoire du Tango, and Debussy’s Plus que Lante – the “more than slow” waltz.
Transporting a harp is a constant challenge for harpists. Ingrid says “It’s always nicer to have your own instrument where possible, especially for a fairly virtuoso programme like this”. Fortunately she has spare days either side of this concert, when the APO doesn’t need her, so she is able to drive down and back avec harp.
Andrew Beer, violin, and Ingrid Bauer, harp: 4:00 p.m. Saturday 22 June at 57 Wood St, Greytown.
Contact Ed and Juliet Cooke for bookings – phone 06 304 9497 or efjacooke@gmail.com
