07 June 2018

ANAM: Caleb Wong with Louisa Breen


ANAM Solo Recital
South Melbourne Town Hall
Friday 1 June 2018

Mature-age audience-people have been listening to music for decades. They can tell the good from the excellent from the superb in a flash. When 50 or 60 of them – with 20 or so student-support – recognise a performance as superb and rise as one person to say so it’s good evidence that the muso concerned is a winner. At ANAM on Friday the winner was Caleb Wong.

Caleb Wong
Source: https://www.maroondahsymphony.org.au/future-concerts/concert-sunday-16th-september-2018/

The Strauss/Mendelssohn opus 6 cello sonata was written when Richard was in his late teens: it’s late-ish 19C. So playing it very well, answers, ‘can I play German romantic with my eyes closed - because you can’t play Mendelssohn well with your eyes open. In Caleb’s case on Friday, the answer was,’ Why are you bothering to ask?’ He had the score open but I have no idea why. He spent a lot of time not looking at it and it showed in the way he let the music channel through his head and out over the space between stage and audience He gave us wonderful brio in the first movement and great vivo in the third with beautifully controlled andante but non-troppo in between. Simply beautiful. But was it competition winning stuff? Yes ... ish.

The late Debussy sonata was next. Not easy, that piece. Challenging to listen to with its unusual sur la touche and sur la chevalet bowing instructions. Caleb describes the second movement as sarcastic. I’ve never thought to describe even late Debussy like that, but he’s right. It’s a wonderfully acerbic piece that Caleb clearly understood very well. Hmmm ... it's not all sweetness and light in that head.

Grace Wong with brother Caleb
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xobm-7xhdWo


But to cut to the chase, Caleb was, I’m certain, doing a practice run for a high-powered competition. In that, his next choice of repertoire was ideal. He came nowhere near the boring and banal of which there is heaps in the cello list:
Samuel Barber? No! American schmaltz.
Béla Bartók? No?
Britten? Hmmm … later, maybe.
Elliott Carter? Bit risky. Very risky!
Elgar? Du Pré! So no, not until I'm very famous.
Variations on a Rococo Theme? No bite! What Tchaikovsky has?
Prokofiev Sinfonia Concertante? Yes! Bite!

But can we handle the horrendous technical stuff? The answer was, yes, firmly, yesapparently with ease. We were given (thank you Caleb) a brilliant, gut-grabbing performance of a piece that is rivalled for Russian bite and satanic writing only by Prokofiev’s third Piano Concerto. We heard only the second movement with the deceptive instruction, Allegro. Now I want to hear the whole deal. Even in a piano reduction it’s a spectacular piece of music with enormous music values and we got a spectacular performance that tapped into those values. Not just my opinion. The audience were on  their feet before I could move.

Louisa Breen was the Associate Artist – not the accompanist. Gerald Moore killed that concept by asking sardonically, Am I too loud? Louisa’s playing was equally as stunning as Caleb’s.

Louisa Breen
Source: https://www.melbournerecital.com.au/events/2018/natural-landscapes/
  
When they stood, exhausted, Caleb waved his right hand in her general direction. I’m absolutely certain that he didn’t intend to be dismissive: he’s too good a bloke for that. But as a piece of stage manners, next time Caleb might indicate Louisa firmly or shake her hand or kiss he on both cheeks or hug her then do a hand-holding bow with her. Mate, she was your associate artist! The performance was not possible without her – her work was top-class . You were both equally superb, mate!

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