Leonard Grigoryan & Slava Grigoryan. Photo - Ingrid Kaiser As part of the Melbourne Festival, Slava and Leonard Grigoryan showed their customary skill in two sold-out performances in the Spiegeltent. The precision and brilliance of the brothers’ playing, their subtle phrasing and the evident musical sympathy between them, are deservedly known, and the two concerts were sold out. However certain factors worked strongly against full enjoyment. The venue itself, whatever its fame and appeal, admits every possible street noise, and many moments were undone by the sounds of trams, cars, etc, utterly ruining the carefully placed pauses and endings of the composers and players.
Moreover the program, while it allowed scope for range of attack and virtuosity, lacked lyricism and melody, if that’s what you were looking for. Debussy’s Suite Bergamasque and de Falla’s Cuatro Piezas Espagnoles, well known in their first settings for solo piano, were both effective enough, and of course played with strength and precision, but perhaps a little thin, compared with the originals. Nigel Westlake’s Songs from the Forest, Andrew York’s Evening Dance and Ralph Towner’s Beneath an Evening Sky completed the program, all interesting pieces, but making a somewhat stern, austere impression, augmented by the performers’ sober attire and understated demeanour. A brilliant but somehow emotionless experience.
Slava and Leonard Grigoryan
Venue: The Famous Spiegeltent | The Arts Centre
Dates: Wed 17 & Thu 18 Oct at 7pm
Duration: 1hr 15min no interval
Tickets: Full $31.50 / Groups (8+) $28.35 / Conc $23.75
Bookings: Ticketmaster 1300 136 166 | www.melbournefestival.com.au