This concert, originally planned for 2020, finally came to fruition in 2023, and it was certainly worth the wait. Kristian Chong (piano) and Sophie Rowell (violin) took the Hobart audience on a stimulating musical journey with Mozart, Franck, and Australia’s Margaret Sutherland.

Mozart’s Sonata No. 28 for Piano and Violin in E flat major K380 was undertaken with spontaneity and weight without heaviness. There was also plenty of sparkle and a real rapport between the performers; the central Andante con Moto given ideal pacing and alertness.

Kristian Chong & Sophie Rowell at Hobart Town Hall.

The Sonata for Violin and Piano by prolific Australian composer Margaret Sutherland (1897-1984) is little known and, surprisingly, has been rarely performed since its 1925 premiere. It is a large-scale piece of half hour duration in three movements. The sonata is marked by striking individuality, rejecting the pastoral idiom prevalent in much Australian music at the time, and incorporates a wide range of moods. The work positively teams with ideas but still feels structurally coherent. Chong and Rowell conveyed its intensity and lyricism admirably, making one eager to get to know the piece better.

Finally, there was...