In the first of an ingenious series of recitals devoted to the ephemeral, fleeing quality of light, and darkness, the virtuosic Italian cellist Umberto Clerici was joined with the sublime voices of Carl Crossin’s Adelaide Chamber Singers in a deeply moving selection of recent works by the late Sir John Tavener, Latvian Ēriks Ešenvalds and English choral specialist, Richard Allain. It’s often stated that the cello is the most human of instruments, with its range and affecting autumnal ‘bee in a bottle’ drone and vibrato; so the pairing of it in a simple yet masterly way, with a sublime choir makes for compositions which fall upon the ear as both contemporary and indeed timeless.

Umberto Clerici. Photo © Laura Stanca

Clerici proves the ideal successor to Steven Isserlis with a highlighted sense of simple and radiating beauty, underpinning the choir with a quiet yet authoritative sense of improvisation. Tavener was represented by two pieces – Syvati, which brought the music together behind a seemingly familiar adoption of the Slavonic (Russian Orthodox) ritual to which the composer had personally converted, whilst in Funeral Ikos, the text was an English translation from the Greek funeral...