The Canberra International Music Festival is famous for its collaboration concerts, bringing together solo musicians and ensembles with their own profiles in the festival program for events that show what they can do together.

Under a loose theme of ‘folk and tango’, classical accordion player and experienced musical director James Crabb anchored a diverse program alongside clarinettist David Griffiths which toured traditional musical forms from Czechia, Scotland, Serbia, Russia, Argentina and Hungary.

Folk & Tango. Photo © Peter Hislop

Opening with Antonin Dvořák’s Bagatelles Op. 47, one had to remind oneself that the accordion is not an everyday inclusion in a string quartet. So subtle and sympathetic was Crabb’s contribution among Australian String Quartet players that these rustic dance tunes sounded completely true to form, the accordion providing the colourful hint of Bohemian character.

Elena Kats-Chernin’s Russian Rag, known best as the ABC’s Late Night Live theme tune for some years under Phillip Adams, was played in a restrained, lilting tempo, giving instruments plenty of space to speak, with Griffiths relishing the lead clarinet role.

Audiences might still be divided on how profound and original Astor Piazzolla’s role is in articulating contemporary South American music to a global audience, but his Suite Punta del Este Argentina (arranged by Crabb) at least did as advertised, and brought all the evening’s players together at last on the one stage for some brassy and exuberant drama.

Folk & Tango: David Griffiths. Photo © Peter Hislop

The evening concluded with Béla Kovács’ Shalom-Alekhem, Rov Feidman arranged by Griffiths, with extraordinary rhythmic patterns and stylistic variations – Griffiths’ clarinet screaming above the celebratory clamour. Echoing Hungarian roots, the Semitic character conveyed through the modal structure provided intensity, passion and joy – enough to provoke a standing ovation (and a similarly styled and virtuosic encore led again by Griffiths).

The highlight of this highly entertaining, quite varied and occasionally raucous program was in its quietest, most reflective and delicate act: Crabb’s arrangements of Four Scottish Folk Pieces. These were all extraordinarily beautiful – in both composition and execution.

Folk & Tango: James Crabb. Photo © Peter Hislop

Folk tunes like these, despite their adherence to minor keys and glowing cadences, are not particularly complicated. It is perhaps because we’re not used to hearing folk music performed with this level of technical precision, as well as the passion we do expect, that made this performance so breathtaking. Musicians and audience were rendered into mesmeric silence at the end of each piece.

The attention given to phrasing, dynamics, pauses and to the story told by the melody line placed this set on another level. Ethereal, perfect moments in time that will sit in the memory and the soul; and never likely to be repeated with quite the same impact.

The Canberra International Music Festival continues until 6 May.