Working with Rohan de Saram
Rohan de Saram is one of the great cellists. He left an indelible impression on me when he visited Canberra in the 1980s with a programme that included Xenakis’s Kottos (1977). Working with him now is a real privilege – and a shared exploration of what is possible on the cello.
Rohan and I started planning some two-cello concerts in 2019 but our first full programme was given in Oxford in February 2020. (A packed hall, with an audience both young and old!)
In addition to working with some great music from the past (Offenbach, Glière, Beck) this has been a fantastic opportunity to do something a little different with some of my composer colleagues and friends: Richard Beaudoin (whose work is covered elsewhere on the website), David Gorton, and, from my quartet, Mihailo Trandafilovski (whose other cello duos I have filmed and recorded with my daughter Evie).
We’re looking for further concert opportunities and programme building and we will be recording the new pieces soon…
Finding harmonics touching two nodes…
Rehearsing before the concert…
Jacques Offenbach – Duo for two cellos, op. 53 no. 2 (1847)
Mihailo Trandafilovski – Kaleidoscope (2019) [World Premiere]
Richard Beaudoin – Les deux lauriers, after Debussy, Cortot and Teyte (2019)
Conrad Beck – Suite for two cellos (1925)
David Gorton – Caleuche Chasma (2019) [World Premiere]
Reinhold Glière – from Ten Duos for two cellos (nos. 2, 5 and 8) op. 53 (1911)
