Beethoven, Schumann, Franck, Ravel, Shostakovich and many others have composed duos for the rewarding combination of violin and piano. These solo instruments complement each other brilliantly which inspire famous devotees of the form, including Renaud Capuçon and András Schiff and Leila Josefowicz and John Novacek.  

Opening the concert, Jack Liebeck made a moving speech about the late viola player Simon Oswell, a cherished musician whose generous spirit and exceptional playing on AFCM stages will always be remembered. Liebeck dedicated the concert to him. Oswell’s widow was present. 

Jack Liebeck at AFCM. Photo © Frontrow Foto

While exceptional pianists do coax beautiful tone from the piano, it’s essentially a percussion instrument which can never surpass the violin’s superior capacity to sustain tone and sing like a human voice. The piano, on the other hand, can produce multi-layered and exhilarating passagework and orchestral colouring. Liebeck is praised for his exquisite lyricism and Piers Lane’s astonishing technique enables him to sail through virtuosic challenges. They are ideally matched.  

Liebeck has a professional association with Lane, who directed the festival for 11 years, and they have performed together in chamber ensembles on many occasions. They’re not an official duo – Liebeck’s partner in this sphere tends to be Katya Apekisheva – but their friendship and rapport was a demonstrable asset in this recital. 

Jack Liebeck and Piers Lane, Australian Festival of Chamber Music 2024. Photo © Andrew Rankin

Brahms’ grandiose, demanding and intense Sonata in D Minor Op. 108 is a stalwart of the repertoire. Lane made light work of Brahms’ virtuosic stretches, never indulging in an overbearing touch. Liebeck’s sharing of the first movement’s themes had compelling restraint, a persuasively seamless to-and-fro with Lane and a purposeful unity which reeled in the audience. In the second movement, the duo’s poetic detailing and subdued pacing held power. Burning with thrilling urgency the Presto Agitato had sparkling clarity and a rewarding momentum.

The Duo inspires new repertoire. AFCM Emerging Composer-in-Residence Sam Wu’s Travelogues is a case in point. This work flows through a nostalgic reflection on the past, dark and protesting passageworks pinpointing today’s troubled realities and a still evocation of space travel, with shards of eerie tunes enshrining stars and beams of glinted light.

Elgar was criticised for his lush language anchored in romanticism. About his Sonata in E Minor, Op. 82 he wrote to a friend, “it is full of glowing sounds and I like it, but you must not expect anything violently chromatic or cubist”. This work, composed in 1918, is riven with the composer’s angst triggered by the First World War. 

Liebeck and Lane’s chemistry, soulful shaping and uncompromising authenticity in championing the Sonata’s Edwardian dignity was the standout performance in an engaging, intimate and much appreciated recital.

The 2026 Austrailan Festival of Chamber Music runs until 1 August.