KARIN

The Brisbane Music Festival has been appearing in a range of large and small venues across Brisbane – and online – since February 2021. And, like other creative companies, the festival is taking advantage of the wealth of world-class talent that would normally be on tour, but is staying close to home in Queensland. Artistic Director, Alex Raineri, has put together a wonderful programme with a variety of performers and different music styles. As befitting our times, the festival also includes some exclusively digital performances. Alex is a very busy festival director as he also accompanies many of his chosen performers on piano. As well as introducing new music, Alex wanted the venues to embody Brisbane spirit – and the performance I attended, by classical guitarist, Karin Schaupp, was housed in a hidden gem – The City Workshop – a basement room in the old Charlotte House, a heritage-listed former industrial warehouse, which has an interesting history in coffee, spice, tea and printing. It was a brilliant venue and a great opportunity to see an international performer in an intimate and informal setting.

As well as being a world-travelling performer, Karin Schaupp is Head of Classical Guitar at the Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University. For this festival programme, she performed the opening piece – Vivaldi's 'Concerto for Lute in D' – with members of BMF Young Artists (Rebekah Hall, Donica Tran, Harry Swainston, Shuhei Lawson) and the second piece – Fernando Sor's 'Six Waltzes' – with her student Jeremy Stafford on guitar. These were really beautiful pieces, showcasing how wonderful the guitar is as a main instrument for music relying on strong tempo for movement and dance. That led to Karin's solo piece, 'Eulogy to the Dance', by Cuban composer, Leo Brouwer, and my favourite interlude of the evening, 'Cafe 1930' from Histoire du Tango by Astor Piazzolla. For this section, Karin was accompanied by the extremely talented Jemima Drews on a very sparkling and capable flute, the two instruments blending in simpatico in a cinematic style. Combined with the intimate underground setting, you could close your eyes and imagine you were in a cafe in Argentina. I'm sure we'll hear more from Jemima in future.

A warm and welcoming performer, Karin introduced each piece, enlightening us about the guitar's role in the composition. The selections were a perfect showcase of the instrument's and the performer's personality. The cinematic style continued as Alex Raineri joined Karin on piano for a 1950's piece, 'Fantasia, Op. 145' by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, the strength of the two instruments on robust display by these two creative artists. The next duet for piano and guitar – the world premiere performance of Yitzhak Yedid's 'A Kiss for Death' – saw the two instruments at loggerheads and was a little more inaccessible, with tension at the fore as dissonance and discord were the piece's themes. But the piano and guitar have never shied away from having loud, political voices, so it was a fair choice. But I preferred the last number, Gnattali's 'Sonata for Guitar and Cello', with Trish Dean – the perfect closing number for a cinematic and inspiring programme that, in Karin's capable and creative hands, allowed the virtuosity of the guitar as an instrument to sing alongside her friend Trish on the enigmatic cello. Karin's introductions to each piece were relaxed and friendly and also a highlight of the performance in a unique and intimate performance space.  I will certainly be looking to catch more of this fresh festival before the end of the year.

Brisbane Music Festival continues to 12 December 2021, with performances in 11 venues, with 24 concert programs, including 7 world premieres.

Beth Keehn

Photos: Jai Farrell