and Dvorak at the Glenroy Auditorium on Monday, June 20.
The glow of wonderful live music, superbly performed, kept a moderate audience warm and happy on a chilly Monday night.
Touring with Chamber Music New Zealand, renowned Australian quartet Goldner String Quartet — Dene Olding (violin), Dimity Hall (violin), Irina Morozova (viola) and Julian Smiles (cello) — showcased their immense skill and mutual understanding in a varied, nicely balanced programme.
The concert began with Gareth Farr’s delightful Te Koanga, a sound-scape of the New Zealand bush, complete with the songs of the tui and weka, cleverly created on the strings.
Felix Mendelssohn’s youthful String Quartet No 1 in E flat Major was handled with aplomb by the quartet, with the beautiful second-movement Canzonetta a particular joy.
The programme’s second half began with a short, evocative piece, White Cockatoo Spirit Dance by Australian composer Ross Edwards.
The Goldner Quartet showed impressive skill throughout this intriguing piece, working together to create its obsessive rhythms and harmonic sounds.
The finale and overall highlight of the concert was the quartet’s exuberant performance of Antonin Dvorak’s joyful String Quartet No 12 in F Major ‘American’, giving full rein to its infectious celebration of the folk music and peoples of that country.
As a reward for thunderous applause, the audience was treated to a short encore performance of Peter Sculthorpe’s gentle, calming Hill Song II, before heading happily into the cold night air.
