“Rachael Beesley’s charismatic leading of featured string players plus timpani was full of fine characterisation across the four movements with a carefree, innocent nature.
Blend of the string soloists with the rest of the ensemble was seamless. Moments of surprise, humour and playfulness were enjoyed by the musicians and audience…
Neal Peres Da Costa’s Historically Informed Performance experience and research brought so many new options and approaches to this slow movement and in the rest of the well-known concerto. The intimate voice of the fortepiano was imbued with arpeggiation, embellishment of line and extra material to push the sound through the fortepiano’s quicker fade in tone.
The F sharp minor slow movement was nicely voiced and ornamented. Its interplay with strings and wind to trace the harmonic contour and surprises was beautifully achieved. The fortepiano tone blended into the sonic tapestry rather than rise above it as it would with a more resonant modern instrument and performance practice.
This concerto, with wind and especially clarinets used in the narrative so much, was in good hands here with the quality contributions from ARCO players… “
Paul Nolan, Sydney Arts Guide (27 August 2022)
Image: Robert Catto