Music / ANU – Lunchtime Faculty Recital, Edward Neeman, piano, at Larry Sitsky Recital Room August 11. Reviewed by LEN POWER

It was a lunchtime recital with a bit of everything – melody, drama, emotion and a hint of greatness.

The centrepiece of the recital was the Sonata in F minor by Australian composer, Frederick Septimus Kelly. Incomplete, it was his last work before his death in the Battle of the Somme in 1916 in World War I. Pianist, Edward Neeman, played two complete movements and the fragment of a third movement which had been sketched out prior to Kelly’s final return to the war.

The first movement was highly dramatic, even heroic. Hints of war and other colourful moments were quite breathtaking in their complexity. The second movement was beautifully, almost painfully melodic and the fragment of the third movement showed the potential so cruelly interrupted. Neeman gave it a sensitive and highly satisfying performance, leaving us wondering about the work Kelly might have done had he lived.

Also on the program was the Piano Piece No. 6 in F sharp minor by Elisabeth von Herzogenberg. A student and close friend of Johannes Brahms, a small amount of her work was only published by her husband after her untimely death at age 45. This richly melodic work again showed the composer’s potential, especially at a time where women had little opportunity to have their work acknowledged.

Two works by Brahms followed – the Capriccio in F sharp minor, Op. 76, No. 1 and the Intermezzo in A minor, Op. 76, No. 6. Neeman brought out the sublime melodies and emotion of these works, and it was interesting to compare them with Herzogenberg’s work.

Also played was Robert Schumann’s Variations on the name “ABEGG”, Op. 1 which was based on the musical notes spelled out by the name Abegg. Keeping track of the ingenious variations was fun and Neeman gave it a performance of great clarity.

The recital finished with Etude No. 12 in D minor by FS Kelly. This highly dramatic work full of tumbling emotions was well played by Neeman and reminded us yet again of the untimely loss of this composer.

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