French cellist, Christian-Pierre La Marca, has collaborated with film-maker, Yann Arthus-Bertrand, to create a beautiful but ambitious project that uses the engaging and immersive spirit of music and film in a positive way to convey calm and peaceful, but sometimes confronting, messages about our planet’s health, well-being and future.

The music that accompanies the film, much of it well-known, stretches from Bach to Arlen, and beyond to living composers, right up to a piece written by Fazil Say in 2012.

In total, 18 short pieces fill the two-hour program. This in itself creates quite a challenge for the musicians. To get into the mindset of so many composers, from so many time periods, and for such short pieces requires supreme concentration and skill. This group handled it splendidly.

Christian-Pierre La Marca. Image supplied

This was especially so for pianist, Itamar Golan, who played such a pivotal role in the performance. He fronted up to appear in this concert after a mammoth effort in an arrangement for piano trio and percussion of Shostakovich’s epic 15th symphony in another concert barely an hour-and-a-half earlier.

La Marca’s performance was so thoughtful, sincere and virtuosic that it...