SEPTEMBER 14 2019 LISTENER 55
from 1723 and she later acquired a fine
second instrument, a 1750 Guadagnini,
now strung with gut strings for playing
early repertoire.
In New Zealand, she will play as the
Viktoria Mullova Trio, with her husband,
English cellist Matthew Barley, and New
Zealand pianist Stephen De Pledge, in
major chamber works by Schubert
and Ravel. De Pledge, who has
played separately with both Barley
and Mullova, says the trio concert
idea has been “bubbling away forabout five years”, waiting to fit into the
London-based couple’s busy schedule.
Mullova gives Barley a lot of credit for
her more relaxed approach to music. “If I
hadn’t met Matthew, I’d be very different.
It’s wonderful to play with him, because I
really admire his music-making; we have
a very similar understanding about music
and that helps when you play chamber
music together.” Is it all harmonious?
“Playing with my husband is challeng-
ing, because we argue a lot. Last year,
we sorted it out and came to rehearse
together as professionals, not as a couple.
It went really well after that.”
Barley’s “genre-blurring” musical
approach has also been an inspiration.
Mullova brought her effortless virtuos-
ity to a recent “crossover” programme
with her husband, “Stradivarius in Rio”,
where they were joined by a Brazilian
guitarist and two percussionists. She
has another project with Misha Mullov-
Abbado, her 28-year-old son from her
short first marriage to conductor Clau-
dio Abbado. Together, she and her jazz
double-bass player offspring have created
a programme called “Music We Love”,
consisting of songs, his compositions,
improvisations and classical arrangements
for the two instruments.
“I love this project and the Rio one
with Matthew; they’re quite easy for me,
because they’re very relaxed. I don’t have
to prove anything to anyone about how
well I play the violin; it’s just pure music
and the enjoyment of it.” l
Ashkenazy & Mullova, Auckland Philharmonia
Orchestra, September 12; Viktoria Mullova Trio
with Matthew Barley & Stephen De Pledge,
Chamber Music NZ, Wellington, Christchurch,
Auckland, September 14-16; Matthew Barley
& Stephen De Pledge, Chiaroscuro, Napier,
Palmerston North, New Plymouth, September
10-12.
E
arly on July 26, 2016, Thelma Plum
had studio time booked with fellow
Aussie songwriter Dave Le‘aupepe.
But that session was, she now
recalls, “dark”.
The previous night, current affairs
show Four Corners had broadcast “Aus-
tralia’s Shame”, about the mistreatment
of Aboriginals at the Don Dale Youth
Detention Centre. The opening scene
had shown 17-year-old Dylan Voller
stripped to the waist, shrouded in a “spit
mask” hood and shackled to a chair.
“I’d been aware of this mistreatment
for some time. I’ve got blood broth-
ers who’ve been in detention centres,
but this was the first time mainstream
Australia was forced to see what was
happening,” says 24-year-
old Plum, who grew
up proud of her
Gamilaraay heritage
between homes in
Brisbane and her
family’s farm in
northern New
South Wales.“So, I couldn’t go into a studio and say,
‘Let’s write a banger or a light, upbeat
pop song about nothing’, that would
have been unfair. It was a very dark day
in the studio, because everyone had
watched that show.”
The song that came out of that session,
Love and War, is soulful pop at its most
powerful, with Plum’s plaintive chorus
of “Hold up your chin” not just a call for
courage, but a reminder of the ties that
physically bound Voller.
Three years on, Plum has become
something of a spokesperson for
indigenous rights in Australia’s music
industry. She’s forged a close friendship
with Voller and turned her songwriting
more towards activism and bold self-
examination, and she calls out fakery
with a smirking viciousness (for example,the excellent Woke Blokes on new debut
album Better in Blak).
She’s also had some support from
old white guys. Paul Kelly co-wrote the
album’s end track, Made For You, which
features guitar by one Paul McCartney.
He was in an adjoining New York studio
and wandered in to say: “I’ve got this
part that I can hear.”
Plum had just left for the
day. “When I found out, I was
grateful and quite shocked, but
I don’t think I really grasped
what it meant until I’d sat with
it for a couple of days and then
when I actually heard the
guitar part, I thought, ‘Right,
well, this really happened.’” lThelma Plum supports
Troye Sivan, Spark Arena,
Auckland, September 13.
Better in Blak is out now.Paul McCartney was in
an adjoining New Yorkstudio and wandered
in to say: “I’ve got thispart that I can hear.”
Plum’s new
depths
Rising Aussie star is
putting politics into
pop with the help of
two famous Pauls.
Thelma Plum: “I’d
been aware of this
mistreatment for
some time.”MUSIC
by James Belfield