On a wet and miserable night those who braved the conditions were treated to a delightful concert at Pitt St Uniting Church (now over 180 years old and renowned for its historical organ).

This short exciting concert was the second Resonance has held at the church and it is hoped that this will become part of an established, continuing series. The two very exciting performers were Chris Cartner on piano and baritone Alexander Knight.

Chris Cartner, who moved to Australia in 2008 is currently a pianist with Opera Australia, Sydney Philharmonia and Sydney Chamber Choir among others, and has a busy schedule of concert engagements, as well.

Alexander Knight is in his final year of an Advanced Diploma of Opera at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and has already performed with prestigious orchestras such as the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Sydney Chamber Opera and the Sydney Philharmonia.

The piano was shifted so it could be used (not the organ) and the church was decorated with a ‘ Reconciliation’ banner and a huge rainbow of colours was overhead in preparation for Sunday ‘s Pentecost service. (In some ways this affected the lighting – it was quite difficult to see Knight’s face at times) .

The concert, that took place on Thursday 5th June, was entitled ‘Songs From England and Russia’ and featured some quintessentially British and Russian pieces. We began with Cartner on piano with Elgar’s ‘Salut D’Amour’ op12 . Extremely British and sounding quite ‘school of Sullivan’, Cartner’s playing was magnificent and inspired, elegant and quite Romantic. Cartner wore orchestral black and was quite imposing. After the Elgar he welcomed us, spoke further about the concert and introduced special guest artist baritone Alexander Knight.

Knight is slight in form yet attention grabbing, somewhat leonine in appearance. He has a striking compelling baritone with enormous range and power. The first ‘set’ was G.Finzi’s ‘Let us garlands bring ‘ an attractive selection of five Shakespearean songs , looking at love and the passage of time. There were contrasting moods over the five songs, from the fast, breathless excitement of ‘Who Is Sylvia’ to the far more melancholy ‘ Fear No More the Heat of the Sun’. Interestingly, some of it had a distinctly Satie sound, straight out of ‘Gymnopedies’ .

Then it was back to Cartner on the piano for two Scriabin Etudes played in full Romantic mode, passionately and with lots of showy scurrying up and down the keyboard. The Etude in C Sharp minor shows many characteristics of Russian gypsy music and is accompanied by repeated chords in both hands, featuring rich harmonies .The Etude in D Minor is very difficult technically and a great showpiece.

The concert then segued into the two Rachmaninoff preludes .The Prelude in D major was again lyrical and sweepingly Romantic, rather solemn, whilst the Prelude in G Minor op 23 no5 has an infectious rhythm.

Then came the Rachmaninoff Six Songs (performed in Russian but with handy translation in the program) .Knight gave a passionate, dramatic performance. ’The Little Island’ was a tiny jewel , full of yearning, followed by ‘Spring Waters’, replete flurries of passion. ’’I Wait for Thee ‘ was very Romantic in style and ‘I’m No Prophet’ was darkly stark and dramatic.

The final work was D.Elwyn-Edwards ‘The Cloths of Heaven’, far more contemporary in feel, full of childlike wonder about the stars above.

For their encore, after a wonderful curtain call, Knight and Cartner presented a rollicking piratical piece, ‘Captain Stratton’s Fancy’, a drinking song about Henry Morgan, which was greatly enjoyed by all.

The next concert, as part of the Resonance Concerts and Events, will take place,  once again at the Pitt Street Uniting Church.on Thursday 3rd July.