Photo: Sophie Rowell and Alex Raineri performing Myths.
Alex Raineri is a musical chameleon — and a remarkable one at that. Flexibility is his superpower. He has the capacity to deliver solo and ensemble repertoire from all kinds of genres and all periods of classical history, including contemporary art music. I applaud him for initiating the Brisbane Music Festival which gives so many musicians employment and entertains its audiences with adventurous programs. Limelight commissioned me to write two reviews. Read more here.
For those who have never been to Fourth Wall Arts, it’s a cosy, intimate venue painted black, and the foyer more closely resembles a living room. There’s a bookcase, comfortable armchairs, a table, ornaments on display and a wall of media. Raineri owns the space, and as the artistic director of the Brisbane Music Festival he is free to curate adventurous and risky programs.
As Flower, As Fire presented three contemporary and demanding piano works, conjuring a realm of spirituality and timelessness. Alex performed Phrygian Gates brilliantly.
Robert Davidson the composer was in the audience and afterwards he told me he'd heard the world premiere of this piece played by the composer John Adams. Raineri certainly reels in Queensland's musical cogniscenti. You never know who you might meet in the foyer over a glass of white and red wine.
Women virtuosos and composers pushed out of the limelight
It makes me sad when I hear of exceptional women virtuosos or composers who were pushed out of the limelight by controlling unsupportive husbands. Our own Margaret Sutherland is one that springs to mind. Her composing had to be done away from her husband's over controlling eye.
The American composer Amy Beach was a touring concert pianist of great acclaim but when she married into a wealthy conservative Boston family she was pressured into giving only one piano recital a year. She turned to composing as an outlet for her brilliant musical mind and in Myths, Alex Raineri and the superb violinist Sophie Rowell gave a spellbinding account of her acclaimed but seldom heard Violin Sonata.
This program’s title, Myths, stems from the introductory piece of the same name by Karol Szymanowski. Of course, violinist Sophie Rowell is herself a “legend”, making a remarkable contribution to classical music across Australia and overseas as a soloist, leading orchestral violinist and chamber musician. A former concertmaster of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, she is artistic director of the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra and teaches at the Australian National Academy of Music.