Bella Rosa Quartet: a gem of a concert
On Saturday evening a distressingly small audience was rewarded with a gem of a concert performed by the Bella Rosa Quartet at the Oakhurst Insurance George Arts Theatre. The whole programme consisted of French music, embracing a central theme of "Love and Life".
The programme opened with the solo flute of Sally Minter beguiling us with Debussy's Syrinx (syrinx is the German word for the pan-pipes played by the mythical god, Pan.) We were drawn in by the ethereal whirling sound and we knew we were in for a very different concert.
The short pieces were charmingly introduced by the soprano Louise Howlett, who has a strong and clear voice which she uses to good dynamic effect. Her soft singing was magical.
Each musician was given a chance to show off their instrument and after the flute, it was the turn of the pianist Albert Combrink, who chose to play the Prelude from Debussy's Suite Pour le Piano. This is a demanding work and Combrink negotiated his way through it very successfully. Apart from his solo
work, Combrink proved to be an excellent accompanist - supportive and sympathetic but never intrusive.
The cellist, Pieter-Adriaan Stoffberg, elected to play Nigun from Ernst Bloch's Baal Shem - a suite of three pictures of Hassidic life. Both Stoffberg and Combrink gave us a wonderfully dynamic rendition of this difficult piece.
The highlight of the evening was Louise Farrenc's Trio for Piano, Cello and Flute. The first movement was a set of variations gently shared between all the instruments and followed by a very busy second movement. This was an exciting work much appreciated by the audience.
The programme ended with the lovely song made famous by Edith Piaf, La
Vie en Rose, sung beautifully by Louise Howlett.
This was a very different genre of music seldom heard in George and should have been better supported. It was presented by four excellent musicians in an atmosphere of Love and the Joy of Life and we look forward to a return visit by this quartet.
- Sue Rijsdijk