With the greatest respect, Joe Chindamo and Zoe Black are a publicist’s dream. Both are accomplished performers in their genres – composer/pianist and classical violin respectively – and partners in real life as well as on stage. And it must be said, easy on the eye. Even their names seem to belong together. The irony is, this pair do not need promotion. Their music speaks for itself. It’s been described as a commitment to new music, with a daring disregard for boundaries. But it defies such pigeonholing.
From the Yass Music Club to New York’s Carnegie Hall, and many times at venues such as tonight’s – the Salon at the Melbourne Recital Centre, Zoe Black and Joe Chindamo enjoy audience drawing power and an exceptional warmth and respect from their colleagues as well. A tribute from trumpeter James Morrison (published on their website) sums it up: “When two great artists collaborate, you expect a magnificent result. What you don’t expect, what you can’t even imagine, is the transcendent experience that awaits you when under the spell of Zoe Black and Joe Chindamo.”
For just one night this week at the Salon, an audience had the entirely pleasurable task of putting Morrison’s words to the test. They were not disappointed. Most of the music was described as “world premieres from Joe’s pen” and the music composed or chosen by Chindamo both showed how diverse their music is but also suggested how each has extended his or her musicality because of being part of this duo.
The opening work, American Spirit, could hardly have illustrated this better. The violin lent itself as an instrument equally to the brightness of Hootenanny and Tom and Jerry yet brought sweetness and solemnity to Hymn for Ground Zero. Violinist Black showed herself to be more than equal to Appellation’s challenge to while the composer gave her a beautiful solo in sensitive Huckleberry Friend. American Spirit also set the pattern for the evening: Joe as composer and performer, Black as interpreter of his music as well as fellow artist.
Ravel’s Sonata for Violin and Piano was a perfect illustration of Chindamo’s skill at finding works to play to the performers’ strengths. The opening Allegretto sounded like two different pieces played simultaneously, but both at speed, with the ending delivering soft chords and a searching violin. The second movement was fittingly called Blues but it was the violin that had the solo (demonstrating pizzicato and percussive effects) while the piano grounded Black’s efforts yet accompanied the rhythm. Perpetuum mobile, the final movement, suggested music that was going to be fiery. It certainly was that! Black never faltered while Chindamo delivered staccato chords, in a performance that provoked huge applause.
Chindamo’s original composition Symbiosis was a reflection on war and, as he says, a manifesto against it. Mourning and celebration equally inform the piece, whose moods range from reflective beauty to a tonality that is more appealing than one might expect. Black was called on for a virtuoso performance, as was Chindamo himself. Both delivered.
Finally came Nine Lives of La Folia, described as nine short movements based on a 16th century harmonic sequence that had inspired conductors over the centuries, now including Chindamo himself. Beginning with a baroque sound from the violin and chords from the piano, it set the scene for variations, although each movement was a unique composition in itself. The second, Waiting, saw the piano at speed, imitated by the violin, with fury suggested by the tempo. Both performers were note perfect despite the demands on them.
Unrest articulated the melody to start but built to have a baroque intensity. Contrast came next, firstly with the reflective and sweet, piano solo, Solitude, then the harsh and virtuosic Demonic with every one of the pianist’s fingers busy on the keyboard. It was then the turn of Black to play the solo, Remembering, while both were inspired by the baroque again in Regal.
Judgment had a well-executed trill for the violin and the piano with the melody before the violin sped away. (At one point Chindamo appeared to be improvising, but this was very smooth and only suggested by the lack of notation at that point on his score – as observed from our vantage point immediately behind the piano!) Ending an evening of contrasts, it was back to solemn and slow to end.
Then, for an encore, a treat: Number 13 of Bach’s Goldberg Variations, the subject of a forthcoming CD from this pair. Delivered with their distinctive style it will certainly be popular with tonight’s audience and the many others who appreciate the unique duo that is Joe & Zoe.
