Janet Banks makes the journey to London’s Cadogan Hall on 12 March 2025 for the recital of Tchaikovsky, Rossini and Bizet/Serebrier
There was no contesting that Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations was the high point of this enjoyable concert, featuring two very talented young women in the early stages of stellar careers. Right from her initial entry it was clear that Anastasia Kobekina, dramatic in a full-skirted, rather gothic black dress, is gifted with an exciting ability to characterise and communicate music. Whether the mood was wistful, coquettish or fiery, this was unaffectedly conveyed by both her playing and her facial expressions.
In var.3 she drew a beautifully lyrical legato from her 1698 Stradivarius cello, before tossing care away in the impish var.4, her glissando semiquaver scales effortlessly floating down. After the rich double stops and spread chords of the cadenza, Kobekina’s deeply felt Andante over gentle pizzicato strings seemed to bear the cares of the whole world until the bubbling Allegro vivo intervened, its fiendish octaves and rapid thumb position passagework skilfully accomplished.
The rest of the programme was themed around opera, a particular passion of Stephanie Childress. The William Tell overture assured the cello centre stage from the start with its mellow quintet. Excerpts from Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin and Bizet/Serebrier’s twelve-scene Carmen Symphony were all directed with intensity and decisiveness by the young Franco-British conductor.
JANET BANKS
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