St Stephen’s Uniting Church | Friday Music
2 May 2025, St Stephens, Macquarie St, Sydney, NSW
Richard Rourke (clarinet) Diane Berger (flute) Sumiko Yamamura (pianoforte)
On a day when Sydney’s CBD was lashed by wind and rain a concert in St Stephen’s offered safe haven for a well sized and discerning audience for a recital by three of Sydney’s leading chamber music performers, Richard Rourke, Diane Berger and Sumiko Yamamura. Dazzling virtuosity and achingly long sweet-toned phrases made all who attended delighted that they braved the weather.
Where the Rivers Meet by Johanna Selleck is a most energetic and innovative work. I have heard this work before and the duo Rourke & Yamamura are now taking it to new heights of drama and intrigue. Yamamura tackles the piano part with relish and great theatrics and it is a real showpiece for her and for Rourke.
An Ear to Hear, for flute and electroacoustic soundscape by Australian composer Robert Burrell gave Diane Berger the perfect opportunity to display her rich and honey-laden tone in a tribute to the songs of Australian birds.
The Leonard Bernstein Sonata for clarinet and piano hints at music from the USA from the heyday of Gershwin with an overlay of early 20th century European music whilst being an early indicator of the composer who went on to write West Side Story. The performance by Rourke and Yamamura was so immersed in the music with all its various colours that the 12 minute performance time flew by in a second or two. This duo also gave an exquisite and deeply heartfelt performance of Alan Holley’s Umbra, a work that explores long songlines of clarinet colour and piano sustained harmonies.
The dazzle came in the final work in the recital Techno Parade (2010) for flute, clarinet and piano by Guillaume Connesson. This trio, heavily reliant on musical gestures often heard in cartoons, has way too many notes for its relative short duration and they were all dispatched with effortless ease by the trio. Lots of applause for what is simply a party piece!
Program
Umbra for clarinet and piano – Alan Holley
Sonata for clarinet and piano – Leonard Bernstein
An Ear to Hear for flute and electroacoustic soundscape -Robert Burrell
Where the Rivers Meet for clarinet and piano – Johanna Selleck
Techno Parade for flute, clarinet and piano – Guillaume Connesson
