★★★★☆ Clarity, cohesion and exuberance make for a beguiling afternoon of chamber music.

Elder Hall, The University of Adelaide
June 12, 2016

The third tour in the 2016 series of Selby & Friends kicked off in Adelaide on Sunday afternoon, adopting the usual format of two sonatas bookended by works for piano trio. This tour sees pianist Kathryn Selby unite with Canadian violinist Nikki Chooi and ACO cellist Timo-Veikko Valve to perform works by Julian Yu, Schumann, Brahms and Schubert. Opening with Julian Yu’s Prelude and Not-a-Fugue for Piano Trio, all three musicians captivated right from the beginning, setting a standard that was to define the entire concert. Nikki Chooi immediately impressed from the opening motif in the violin, producing a rich, exquisite tone that enveloped the hall. Tense, dynamic exchanges in the cello and piano proved equal as a conversational dialogue ensued. A work commissioned by Musica Viva in 1999 to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Bach’s death, Yu’s work is suffused with that characteristic motoric rhythm of Bach’s Preludes, and to hear this come to life in a piano trio setting from three musicians of this calibre was a revelation. Diverging from Bach’s tradition and ending unresolved, Prelude...