A fine afternoon of music

Review
An Afternoon of French Music
Te Manawa Art Gallery, Sunday, March 21.

One of the strengths of the Te Manawa Sunday afternoon concert series derives from the fact that this community has a wealth of talent and expertise among our many musicians.

Such expertise has been the catalyst for many interesting concerts and yesterday's concert was another fascinating experience that drew on Roy Tankersley's passion for the keyboard. It featured French keyboard music, duets performed on piano and piano and Art Harmonium – a rare combination indeed.

As one might expect, Debussy was represented in a lively performance of his piano duet, Petite Suite featuring Tankersley, along with Coralie Hunter who together make up Venti Dita, a musical partnership that has now lasted 17 years. Their second piano duet was Satie's Three Pieces in the Form of a Pear, a performance that easily captured the essential quirky nature of the music.

However, it was the works written specifically for Art Harmonium that proved of most interest as Tankersley performed Suites No 1 and 6 from L'Organiste by Cesar Franck. While the Harmonium may play a limited role in music today it has a distinctive sound that Tankersely revealed throughout.

The programme finished with Camille Saint Saens' Scherzo for Art Harmonium and Piano the latter instrument performed on a digital piano because of tuning changes over the years. The piece was an effective match of balance and colour between the two instruments, proving again the extraordinary value of this concert series.

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