WHEN I first heard German cellist Alban Gerhardt in the company of pianist Steven Osborne at Orkney’s St Magnus Festival, we were all much younger men. That recital partnership of more than 20 years – so evident in the instinctive communication between the two for the duration of a brilliantly-conceived programme – made this a perfect celebration of the 40th anniversary of the opening of The Queen’s Hall as a performance venue by Her Majesty.
As is illustrated by a specially-commissioned Marco Bevilacqua mural in the bar, depicting some of the famous faces who have graced its stage, and as chairman Nigel Griffiths made clear in his welcome, the diversity of the music this “venue for everyone” has hosted is quite startling. For many, however, it is the home of Edinburgh International Festival’s chamber music programme, and this duo are world-class exponents of repertoire both written and arranged for their instruments.
Dating from a period of mental stability and prolific production in Robert Schumann’s life, the Five Pieces in a Folk Style are a perfect example of the former, the cello leading the conversation, before, usually briefly, assuming an accompanying role in the sequence. In every sense they prefaced the much weightier Sonata in F by Brahms of 35 years later, in which Gerhardt demonstrated a wide range of timbre playing pizzicato, and the debt to Schumann in the lovely slow movement read the full review here.