Pekka Kuusisto and Gabriel Kahane, performing as “Council”, launched their Australian tour at the Melbourne Recital Centre on Tuesday August 6.
Most of the works on the program were original – one a world premiere – all written during retreats in Northern Karelia and Portland, Oregon.
As Elisabeth Murdoch Hall filled up, there was time to survey the crowded stage. It was filled with what Kahane has affectionally described as a “petting zoo” of instruments: on the left (Kahane’s side) – a grand piano and an electric guitar; on the right (Kuusisto’s) – an electric violin and an infinitely more expensive acoustic one; and centre stage in a sturdy metal crate (accessed variously by both), a “fragile musical instrument”, which turns out to be a harmonium.
It was, as the program foreshadowed, “an evening of intimate and sonically varied songs and chamber music”. As well as Council’s own compositions, there were works by JS Bach, Nico Muhly and Timo Alakotila; and a scintillating variety of colours, tones and timbres as the performers mixed and matched their acoustic and electric instruments with loops, whistling and finely crafted vocal lines. The harmonium, with its pure ethereal tones, added a cosmic dimension to the music.
A highlight was Kuusisto’s exquisitely delicate and subtle expression – on whichever instrument he was playing. Kahane himself described Kuusist’s playing perfectly when he wrote: “It’s not only that he has unearthed a universe of timbre and color, but that those effects are deployed with emotional and psychological specificity … It’s as if the combination of his bow arm and left hand unlock access to a secret and rarified color wheel”.
What needs to be added is that Kahane’s insightful, finessed and engaging playing blended perfectly with Kuusisto’s. Throughout the performance, Kahane was intently focussed on Kuusisto, and his own delicate touch was a perfect match for Kuusisto’s gentle tone.
It was clear that both were not only composers/musicians, but also accomplished writers. While their diction was flawless, it was difficult to follow and appreciate the lyrics fully on a single hearing, with no details in the program, but the power of their writing and the range of experiences they captured was palpable.
“Bright Forms” was the only work on this freshly minted program to be available online. Set in a magic mountain forest at midnight, it is a tender reflection on death, specifically a brother’s death. The title is taken from the chorus “Bright forms, bright faith, bright-coloured dreams of death and peace and restlessness”.
There were also lyrics about the past, light-hearted Finnish folk songs with un-spellable names, songs (one yet to be named) reflecting the gamut of feelings to be found in adolescence and fatherhood and in the face of global threats.
As well as their own works, they played a movement from JS Bach’s sonata for violin and keyboard in A major. Kuusisto said it was complex enough – with canons shared between the keyboard and violin lines – to warrant being played four times in a row; but on this particular occasion, once was enough.
Nico Muhly’s “Material in Two Keys” contrasted nicely with the Bach. In Muhly’s work, the piano accompaniment had a trance-like quality, above which Kuusisto soliloquised on the violin.
In a nod to Finnish composer and arranger, Timo Alakotila – who Kuusisto said‘ “saved” his “musical life” – they performed a Finnish folk song, with the audience cheerfully inserting an unpronounceable chorus line.
But that was not all. This was not a concert in the usual sense of the word. It was as if the audience was privy to a very lively, dynamic and personal conversation between two hugely talented, like-minded beings – a closeness, a natural friendliness that transformed the concert performance into a warm and very human musical conversation.
There was also banter – lots of it – and Melbourne’s audience could be grateful for the musicians’ alleged “contract”, which prevented excessive dad jokes and references to Mahler. Nothing could be done, however, to contain these musical mates’ high spirits and infectious enthusiasm for sounds and words in all their wondrous combinations.
Photo credit: James Grant
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Sue Kaufmann reviewed “Pekka Kuusisto & Gabriel Kahane”, presented by Musica Viva Australia at the Melbourne Recital Centre on August 6, 2024.
