"Australia’s most intimate chamber music festival"

Report on:
MUSIC IN THE HUNTER, chamber music festival, September 4-6, 2009 at
First Creek Winery
Sponsored by Constable Estate Vineyards

Festival Artists

Goldner String Quartet
DENE OLDING - violin*
DIMITY HALL - violin*
IRINA MOROZOVA - viola*
JULIAN SMILES - cello*

CAROLINE ALMONTE – piano
MAX OLDING – piano
PAMELA PAGE – piano
EMMA-JANE MURPHY – cello
JOSEPH TAWADROS – oud
JAMES TAWADROS – percussion
* members of The Australia Ensemble, resident at the University of NSW

From left to right: Dimity Hall, Emma-Jane Murphy, Joseph Tawadros, Max Olding, James Tawadros, Pamela Page, Julian Smiles, Dene Olding, Irina Morozova, Caroline Almonte.(absent). Photo courtesy Val Landa.

As in the previous seventeen years, Music in the Hunter 2009 was a celebration of musical masterpieces and artistic excellence, enhanced by a friendly collegiate environment, good food and some excellent wine. The new location at First Creek proved to be very popular with subscribers because of easy access, intimate milieu and the warm, generous hospitality of owners Greg and Jenny Silkman. Superb spring weather was an added bonus. This year was also a special 80th birthday tribute to distinguished pianist and pedagogue Max Olding.

The festival has always offered an opportunity for intense musical involvement and diversity, whilst charting a unified and satisfying musical menu. Beethoven’s great Razumovsky Quartets Opus 59 Nos. 2 and 3 were programme anchors, played with finesse and vitality by the Goldner String Quartet, whose complete cycle of Beethoven quartets was recently issued for the ABC Classics label. Other major masterpieces included Beethoven’s “Spring” Sonata for piano and violin No 5 in F major Op 24 and his Sonata for Cello and Piano No 1 in F major Op 5 as well as Bach’s Suite for solo cello No 4 in E flat major BWV 1010.

On a Russian theme, Arensky’s sonorous String Quartet No 2 in A minor Op 35, dedicated to Tchaikovsky, was complimented by Tchaikovsky’s soulful String quartet No 1 in D major Op 11. In a stunning Russian event, Pamela Page (also known as Mrs Olding and Dene’s mother) illuminated her forceful performance of Mussourgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition with her own paintings which were projected serially onto a screen to match the individual movements.

To celebrate the 200th Anniversary of Mendelssohn's birth, the programme included passionate renditions of his Song Without Words in D major played by Emma-Jane Murphy and Max Olding and the Piano Trio No 1 in D minor Op 49, performed by Caroline Almonte, Dimity Hall and Emma-Jane Murphy. All the while, a more earthy activity was taking place between pieces, as Caroline stepped outside to her car in order to feed her baby!

Caroline, Dene and Emma-Jane focused on the Bohemian idiom with Smetana’s Piano trio in G minor Op 15, further explored by the Goldners in Dvorak’s String Quartet No 12 in F major Op 96 (American).

For extra flavour and much spice, Joseph and James Tawadros on oud and percussion played traditional Egyptian improvisations during the Saturday black tie dinner and joined with the Goldners for an explosion of east meets west during the final concert.

Greg Keane presented insightful pre-concert talks, temporarily replacing Roger Covell who was overseas.
Emerson Rodriguez, the chef from Peppers Guesthouse, produced his much-loved combination of ethnic cuisines. Audience favourites included the egg noodle and vegetable salad with Nam Jim Vietnamese dressing, slow-cooked Wagyu beef, Thai beef salad with crunchy vermicelli noodles, lamb rogan josh and Italian lemon meringue tarts.

Amongst the matching wines there were special treats - the 2008 First Creek Verdelho and the 2007 Constable Estate Cabernet Merlot, national trophy winner for the best red wine blend (Cowra Wine Show).

One of the annual highlights of the festival is the wine tasting and garden tour by David Constable. This year, there was evidence of considerable growth in tree canopies and new plantings of exotic specimens, all offering much-needed shade and a rich habitat for birds.

Dates for MUSIC IN THE HUNTER 2010 chamber music festival:
October 29, 30 and 31, 2010, at First Creek Winery.

Bookings open September 1, 2010.

Subscription Forms 
Available at Constable Estate Vineyards Cellar Door or
email: music@constablevineyards.com

Accommodation

Peppers Guest House http://www.peppers.com.au/guest-house

Hermitage Lodge http://www.hermitagelodge.com.au