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 | Michael Kieran Harvey Pilgrim Church, Thurs 17 Nov The Australian pianist Michael Kieran Harvey has established a unique position in Australian music, taking on wide-ranging virtuosic repertoire from Bach to Messiaen as well as specializing in such contemporary Australian composers as Carl Vine, Andy Ford and Graham Hair. In the first co-production between Feast and Recitals Australia, Harvey juxtaposes such composers with the formidable 'Hammerklavier' sonata of Beethoven, and it is the Beethoven that deserves special mention. Often regarded as the 'Everest' of central repertoire, the 'Hammerklavier' remains a difficult work to bring off successfully. And in terms of weighing up the work's enormous structure as well as the immensely difficult demands sought in the work's final contrapuntal movement, Harvey brought to bear both an appropriate clarity and understanding of the work's innovative sense of architecture and form. After adjusting his usual larger than life approach to the more intimate acoustics of Pilgrim Church, Harvey presented a performance of the 'Hammerklavier' that was both appropriate and approachable. Deserving of special mention were his approach to the central adagio where he brought a sense of stillness, repose and grace and equal importance to the spaces between the notes as the score itself. The broader than usual tempi adopted during the work's formidable closing 'mirror' fugue brought a rare sense of elegance and equal weight to the section's inner voices. Similarly, by adapting his often overgenerous pedaling, Harvey presented an approach to the 'Hammerklavier' that was directed to the intimacy of the venue as much as to the individual listener. The Australian works, which formed the second half of the recital, found the pianist back in more familiar ground - full of virtuosic twists and feats of prestidigitational wonder. As fascinating as these performances were in terms of their superhuman technicalities, it was Beethoven's 'Hammerklavier' that proved to be the true highlight of this fascinating recital.  | |
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