Music / Pekka Kuusisto & Gabriel Kahane. At Llewellyn Hall, August 15. Reviewed by DANTE COSTA  

Known together as Council, Pekka Kuususisto and Garbriel Kahane’s strange, eclectic and beautiful Musica Viva concert left me feeling pleasantly surprised.

Without the usual prescribed program of set works, the evening took on a more intimate recital feel. The house lights in Llewellyn Hall were left just slightly dimmed so that the audience was visible from the stage; Kahane expressing it was so that “we all feel like we’re in the same room”.

Moving away from the typical performer-audience paradigm the duo expressed their goal to “make something together” with the audience as well as each other. This was taken to be more literal later in the program when the audience was invited singing along with a traditional Finnish folk-song encore under Kuusisto’s direction. At least we tried our best.

Casually strutting on stage with their relaxed composure, it was clear from the beginning that what was to follow was to not a typical concert. The duo begun with an ambient sounding piece, Kuususito eerily bowing away double stops and harmonics at his violin and Kahane at the harmonium – a small organ that produces sound by the player simultaneously operating a dual system foot-pump. The music was ornamented with Scandinavian folk-melodies which was a common theme permeating the concert.

Much of the concert included original creations by the duo, including sonically varied works which put on display their personalities often accompanied by a playful display of banter.

A few works employed skilful fiddle-like playing from Kuusisto which took surprising and almost playful harmonic twists and turns along the way with Kahane at the harmonium. At various points throughout the performance, both musicians sung, although, Kuususito struggled at times with intonation – which was never a problem on his violin – together they presented a sincere and appealing performance.

The beauty of such cross-genre collaborations is that they offer a program varied enough to probe the interest of many different ears. A highlight was a rendition of the Finnish folk band JPP’s song titled Irish Coffee that had a particularly enjoyable run for violin. And although it was played well, I did find myself questioning the inclusion of the third movement of Bach’s Violin Sonata in A major and how it functioned in context with the rest of the seemingly more experimental repertoire. Sonically it stands out as being a baroque canon, and Kuusisto joked it was like a “hamburger of music” being situated between such contrasting.

I was struck by how adventurous and unconventional the program was and perhaps it was even veering on the edge of too much for some who left before the concert was over. However, it was clearly a uniquely personal experience and one which shared with the audience just as much as it was between the two exquisite performers on stage.