Limelight — May 2017

Chamber

Alkan • Meyerbeer •

Moscheles

Le Prophète Overture, Nine

Preludes, Hommage à Weber

Stephanie McCallump,

Erin Helyardp

TRPTK TTK0005

★★★✩

Music and pianos of historical

interest in gutsy performances

This unusual production, titledLe

Prophèteafter Meyerbeer’s opera,

brings us 19th-century works

originally composed or arranged

for piano four hands – a common

practice at the time, primarily as a

way to experience new symphonic

worksandoperasinthehome.

The programme consists of the

original, substantial Overture to

Le Prophètearranged by Alkan,

nine of Alkan’s own Organ

Preludes arranged by Liszt’s pupil

José Vianna da Motta, and Ignaz

Moscheles’potpourrifromWeber’s

operasOberonandEuyranthe.

They are performed by Australian

duo Stephanie McCallum and

ErinHelyardwithbrioandgreat

precision of ensemble.

CharlesValentinAlkanwasan

eccentric who composed almost

exclusively for the piano. His music

is technically challenging and often

bizarre,withalargecultfollowing

todaythankstoadvocateslike

McCallum and Marc-André

Hamelin. His Preludes are the most

interesting music here, ranging

from the quirky to the sentimental.

Theotherworks,whileofhistorical

interest, are less compelling.

Theduoplaysonthreeoriginal

Erardpianosoftheperiod(from

1847,1898and1839).WhileIprefer

thesoundofamodernSteinway,

thelucidityandlightnessofthese

instrumentsensurethatbig

sforzandiand crowded textures are

never overbearing.Phillip Scott

FS Kelly

A Race against Time

Alan Hicks, Tamara-Anna Cislowska,

Caroline Almontep, Christopher

Lathamv,LouisePages, Christina

Wilsonms,TSO/Fritzsch

ABC CLASSICS 4814576 (2CD)

★★★★✩

FS(“Sep”)Kelly,anAustralianwhowaskilled
justover100yearsagointhelastdaysofthe
SommeCampaign,wasagreatsportsman
(the pre-eminent sculler of his time and a Gold
Medallistatthe1908Olympics),anoutstanding
concert-pianistand–asthissplendidanthology
declares–anaccomplishedcomposer.
Infact,theElegyforstringorchestra,written
as a tribute to his friend, poet Rupert Brooke,
isatruemasterpiece:Australianmusic-
lovers should be proud of it. In this,
its second commercial recording,
the Tasmanian Symphony
Orchestra under Johannes
Fritzschplayswithsuchtechnical
finesse and emotional intensity,
thattheradiantqualityofthemusic
should be obvious to every listener.
Brooke,likeKellyanofficeroftheRoyal
NavalDivision,haddiedonApril23,1915soon
afterthatforcereachedGallipoli:Kellysurvived
theentirecampaignand,asiftokeepthesound
ofwarfromhisears,composedconstantly,
producing two major works in that year.
The other was a striking Violin Sonata for
Jelly d’Arányi, the brilliant young Hungarian
violinistandgreat-nieceofJosephJoachim:
she premiered it in London in 1919 during a
memorialconcertforKelly,butafterherdeath
themusicwaslostuntilrediscoveredthrough
asearchbyChristopherLatham(thecurator
of these CDs) and music staff of the National

LibraryofAustralia.ThisrecordingbyLatham

and the fine Australian pianist, Caroline

Almonte,isafittingtributetothepieceanda

melancholy reminder of the gifted musician

whichthisnationlostinthatGreatWar.

Like the accompaniment of this sonata,

the sixMonographsandtheCycleofLyrics(all

superbly played by Tamara-Anna Cislowska)

showwhatafinepianistKellymusthave

been himself: his familiarity with the

instrument is clear in every bar.

That applies to these songs,

too, even the earliest. Two in

this anthology date from when

hewasjust18yearsoldand

anotherpairfromwhenhewas

20 .Thismaterialshowsmorethan

simply a promising writer.Shall I

compare Theeisafinesongandhasbeen

recorded twice before, with baritones. Here,

ChristinaWilsonmakesaneloquentclaimfor

it to be part of the mezzo-soprano repertoire.

EventhoughitisapitythattheCDbooklet

(whichquotesextensivelyfromKelly’sdiaries

intheNationalLibrary)includesnosong-

texts,noreventhenamesoftheirauthors,

theserecordingswillbearevelationto

thosewithnopreviousknowledgeofthis

extraordinary Australian. More importantly,

Ihopethattheyencourageotherperformers

to give Kelly’s music the attention which it so

self-evidently merits.John Carmody

HAS ANYBODY HERE HEARD KELLY?

Labour of love puts Aussie original back on the musical map

The Elegy,

written for his

friend, the poet

Rupert Brooke, is

a masterpiece

Tamara - Anna Cislowska

76 LIMELIGHT MAY 2017 http://www.limelightmagazine.com.au

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