Prelude, Elegy, Burlesque

Music performers and lecturers from the Badisches Konservatorium Karlsruhe, known professionally as the Karlsruhe Concert Duo, award-winning artists, Dagmar Hartmann (piano) and Reinhard Armleder (cello) have performed together since the late 1990s. They have toured the globe, in demand for their performance prowess and imaginative programming. Their selection for the Brisbane Music Festival was no exception. Starting with the Prelude part of the programme, we heard JS Bach’s ‘Prelude in G major’ (arranged by Ignaz Moscheles - 1722), and then a mix of pieces that saw the two performers energetically and meticulously conjure melodies ranging from calm to complicated, from Gabriel Faure’s – ‘Elegie Op. 24’ to Astor Piazzolla’s ‘Le Grand Tango’, with an Australian premiere of Chuck Holdeman’s ‘Karlsruhermusik – Konzertstuck’ (2021) in the middle. The Burlesque in the performance’s title was courtesy of Nikolai Kapustin’s ‘Burlesque Op. 97’ (1999) and Jindrich Feld’s ‘Elegia and Burlesque’ (1955) – a fascinating mix of gems, a musical journey that seemed to take the audience from the streets of Leipzig to the cabarets of Berlin.

These two performers are so in synch musically that there is never a missed beat, crucial in their selection of pieces that often involve one instrument completing what the other started. There is no room for error in this fabulous showcase where, particularly the pacier pieces left the small but appreciative audience emitting an involuntary ‘Wow!’ at the end of each set. Where else but the Brisbane Music Festival could you see internationally acclaimed musicians in an intimate setting, which really allows you to appreciate the athleticism of classical performance?

Dagmar and Reinhard also perform Prelude, Elegy, Burlesque on 27 October. Check the BMF programme: brismusicfestival.com

Beth Keehn

Images: Dagmar Hartmann & Reinhard Armleder: Karlsruher Concert Duo