Greytown Music Group is delighted to welcome pianist Sarah Watkins, violinist Andrew Beer and cellist Lev Sivkov back to Greytown. The trio are pleased to be playing together again in New Zealand, and this time are aiming to record their second CD – all NZ music.
Since their last visit, Sarah has become a senior lecturer in piano at Auckland University, commuting between there and her Nelson home. Andrew continues as concertmaster and violin soloist with the APO, also fitting in chamber music recitals like his recent concert in Featherston with accordion player Grayson Masefield. Lev has continued his busy schedule with the Zurich opera, and as soloist and chamber musician.
The programme opens with Kintsugi, by NZ composer Salina Fisher. Kintsugi is an ancient Japanese art of adorning and repairing a broken pot or bowl, making the repaired object even more beautiful than it had been before. Her Piano Trio is an expression and exploration of musical fragmentation, mending and finding beauty in the “cracks.”
Next will be Georgy Sviridov’s Piano Trio in A minor. This was influenced by his teacher, Shostakovich, and written during the height of Leningrad’s struggle for survival against the brutal Nazi attack and siege. It has four movements, a subdued opening Elegy, an exciting and energetic Scherzo, Funeral March, and a pastoral Elegy to finish.
Piano Trio No 2 in E minor by Camille Saint-Saens completes the programme. It has been described as “expressing the pure happiness of a carefree mind amid congenial surroundings.” The composer played in the trio for several performances, describing one in particular, in Edinburgh, as “Delightful!” In five movements, it encompases music that ranges from dark and ominous to salon-type music, virtuosic outbursts and graceful waltzes, with a dramatic moto perpetuo conclusion.
Levansa Trio – Music by Fisher, Sviridov and Saint-Saens: 4:00 p.m. Saturday 2 August at 57 Wood St, Greytown. For bookings, contact efjacooke@gmail.com or 06 304 9497. Admission $30, children $10.
