Live at Yours | Sergei Krylov (violin) and Konstantin Shamray (piano)
March 10, 2026, Toorak Synagogue, Melbourne, VIC
“THE STARS WERE BRIGHTLY SHINING” to quote Puccini’s Tosca, this night; two extraordinary musicians and two inanimate things, made for a marvellous night.
A Stradivari violin, inanimate to be sure, but with a stunning sound, crafted in Cremona in 1710, and known as the Camposelice – after an aristocratic owner – was our first “object”. The second, the Toorak Synagogue, built 1928-1930 and heritage listed (see footnote 1).
Sergei Krylov, after playing some Bach, solo, to show the sound off in this large space, introduced us to his darling instrument, as it were, and said that even simply drawing the bow over the strings produced a full, rich timbre: he demonstrated this, and it certainly did.
Associate Artist, Konstantin Shamray joined him in the Andante & Rondo Capriccioso by Saint-Saens, the French composer who said “I write music as easily as a tree produces apples.” This beautiful work flowed easily and melodically until the quick Rondo, where violin fireworks, always tuneful, had my foot tapping.
The two artists were perfectly in tune with each other, musically and temperamentally, I’d say, the violin sound always to the fore and the accompaniment carefully calibrated by Shamray to not over-power the Strad. I noticed how he spread some of the chords, rather than playing them as block-chords. Orchestral scores reduced for the keyboard are often tricky and awkward for the keyboard, but not with this wonderful pianist.
After this crowd-pleaser start, two Ravel pieces followed: the longer Violin Sonata and the shorter Tzigane. Our pianist
quoted Ravel as saying that the two instruments were “incompatible” and the composer seemed to go out of his way to prove it! We had bell-sounds, chuckles, sarcastic piano commentary and very percussive violin strokes; In the final scherzo the piano was leading with some very virtuoso touches, as if to say: “There you go, I’ll SHOW you!” The overall effect reminded me of the Left-hand Piano Concerto by Ravel, with the MSO, which I have reviewed recently.
Tzigane was dedicated to the brilliant Hungarian violinist Jelly d’Aranyi; (see footnote 2). Ravel asked her to improvise some Hungarian Romani (Gypsy) music and after she did, was so enthused he decided to “have a go” (both senses) at the Gypsy-style pieces, very popular, back in the day. Hence we had the slow start (Lassan) on solo violin leading into the Csardas (Friska) ending, with piano glissando. Think Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody-syle, but without the sense of humour; Ravel, to me, looks always dead-pan in his portraits and I suspect his humour must have been very dry, also.
Frank’s very agreeable and melodic Sonata followed, written late in the composer’s life when his music seemed to blossom. Maestro Shamray mentioned that Saint-Saens hated the work at the first performance and – an insult at the time, apparently – left the score on the piano, afterwards. Was it because they were both besotted by Augusta Holmes, the only female composer in their circle, who charmed everyone? She refused to marry St-Saens and the student circle speculated that Franck’s fascination for her gave a creative surge to his compositions. (Boys will be boys?) Whether that was the case, our two musical gentlemen gave the Franck a lovely run, with a dramatic flourish of a coda that caused a tumultuous applause and bravos, by a full house.
We received an encore: Preludium & Allegro in the style of Pugnani, by Fritz Kriesler; presented as an original piece in 1905 until Kriesler admitted it was his own creation thirty years’ later. A triumphant ending to a brilliant night of music-making.
NOTE 1: I’ve always wondered, seeing the huge dome from my tram trips along St. KIlda Road, about the Toorak Synagogue. Designed in a “Baroque-classicism” style, the interior is certainly impressive, with some beautiful stained-glass windows high in the dome, lustrous stone pillars and crafted wooden seats: The acoustic is very good and the rostrum on the stage features some beautiful carved wood, which may indeed help the sound quality. The Melbourne Hebrew Congregation moved there in 1930, from the CBD. We were given a charming welcome from Rabbi Nathanson, then the concert. After walking past several police officers; through a security maze and bag searches, for obvious reasons, it was a pleasure to enter such a beautiful environment and the full-house seemed buzzing with anticipation, relaxed and ready for something special: we certainly received that.
NOTE 2: Jelly (pronounced “Yelly”) d’Aranyi made the headlines in the 1930’s with a very piquant story: At a seance, she said, she was told of a lost Violin Concerto by Schumann. (It appeared that Schumann wrote it towards the end of his troubled life, thinking dead composers such as Schubert, and “the Angels” were dictating music to him.) His wife Klara, and friend Brahms, deleted it from the complete works of Schumann they were editing and the violinist Joachim – an ancestor of d’ Aranyi – lodged the unpublished manuscript in the Prussian State Archives, with a proviso it not be seen till a century after Schumann’s death (1956!). After more celestial help d’Aranyi located the manuscript, and although Germany stopped her providing the world premiere of it, by getting in first, she presented the premiere of it, in London. Strange, but true; I’ll leave you, the listener, to decide whether this errant Concerto lives up to the public interest spurred by this colourful tale.
