Selby & Friends serve up a delicious triple treat of Beethoven

Good things come in threes, they say, and that was definitely the case with the latest tour of Selby and Friends.

Steve Moffatt

2 min read

August 29, 2024 - 1:01PM

Wentworth Courier

Pianist Kathryn Selby (centre) with violinist Susie Park and cellist Timo-Veikko Valve.

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Good things come in threes, they say, and that was definitely the case with the latest tour of Selby and Friends when a large and appreciative Angel Place audience was treated to a “Triple Treat” of works by Beethoven.

Sydney pianist and entrepreneur Kathryn Selby was joined for this concert by violinist Susie Park and cellist Timo-Veikko Valve. The three have been appearing together for more than 10 years and it shows not only in their tight ensemble work but also in their obvious enjoyment of the music.

Valve, the principal cellist of the Australian Chamber Orchestra, was born in Finland but has lived here since joining the ACO in 2006. Park, who grew up in Sydney before moving to America, first came to prominence as a 16-year-old when she won the Yehudi Menuhin International Competition in France.

The three works on the program spanned a decade of Beethoven’s composing life, from the ages of 27 to 39. First up was his fourth trio, the Op 11 in B-flat major. This was originally written for clarinet, cello and piano before he recast it for violin.

It’s a bright and lively way to open a concert, the outer movements featuring some deft interplay and dazzling fast passages and with a noble duet between cello and violin in the slow middle movement.

The final movement, a set of variations on a popular Viennese street song, is designed to dazzle and in the hands of Selby, Park and Valve it certainly did.

Beethoven’s sixth trio, the Op 70 No. 2 in E-flat major, is the less popular of two published in 1809, often overshadowed by the “Ghost”.

After the dreamy opening Selby’s love of Beethoven showed in every note. Her control of shifting dynamic, and her clear and precise articulation, were spot-on in the dazzling outer movements, while there was some fine ensemble work in the restless middle movements where memorable tunes are suddenly interrupted by dramatic pauses.

Decca recently released a recording of Beethoven’s Triple Concerto starring violinist Nicola Benedetti, pianist Benjamin Grosvenor and cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason and I have been listening to it a lot recently (I recommend you check it out on your favourite streaming platform). So I was intrigued by the last work in this concert, an arrangement of the concerto for piano trio made by Beethoven’s pupil Carl Reineke.

The orchestral part is cleverly shared around between the three instruments and although you certainly miss the full power, colours and textures of an orchestra – especially in the opening and closing moments – the glorious tunes come singing through and the individual virtuoso passages are all there.

This was a splendid performance with Valve’s 1616 Brothers Amati cello and Park’s 1740 Guadagnini violin singing with each other in a vigorous workout driven by Selby’s sparkling pianism.

A Triple Treat indeed.