We may think of ourselves as a sporting nation. If you came to last night’s concert you might come to a different view. On stage three brilliant performers showcased lesser known works of Beethoven and Mozart in a boutique concert venue down a laneway in the heart of Sydney’s CBD. The City Recital Hall has almost perfect acoustics and an ambient lighting showcasing an interior clearly referential to the concert houses of the past while echoing a modern city confidently embracing its future. Yes Aussies are sports mad . But we also do culture damn well!
Nicola Boud was clearly the star in this performance. She is from Perth. But she was also, amongst many other honours from all over Europe, Professor Of Historical Clarinet at the Paris Conservatoire. She played an instrument I have never seen, the Basset Clarinet, a kind of Clarinet with a small bulbous appendage right angled to its base. On stage too was the McNulty fortepiano, long and elegant in a sort of polished walnut finish.
Most interesting in an almost two hour program was Mozart’s Kegelstatt Trio adapted for Cello ,Fortepiano and Basset Clarinet. Kegelstatt is a sort of a bowling alley where skittles were played.. Legend has it he composed this piece while playing it. (But from his own notes he really did compose K487..12 duos for two horns while playing this game) . The trio is a musical interplay between the three instruments .. like the light hearted chat between friends .
The McNulty fortepiano made its appearance here ..a modern recreation of this eighteenth century gem, long and elegant with a sort of walnut finish. Erin Helyard’s virtuosity in playing a Mozart Piano Sonata on it was sublime.
Simon Hobcroft’s cello was a feature in most of the works , with its mellifluous honey timbre bridging clarinet and pianoforte.
The evening wrapped up with Beethoven’s “Gassenhauer ” Piano trio in B Flat. Whereas the ‘Kegelstatt’ might be a chat amongst friends at a bowling alley during skittles, “Gassenhauer” …a playful catchy street tune, was perhaps its outdoor equivalent.
It was an intimate concert and the instruments from a bygone era made the evening a time capsule ..when God really was in Heaven and All was Right in the World.
This concert, part of a national tour by Musica Viva, took place at th City Recital Hall on Monday 28th July 2025.
