★★★★½ Violinist and pianist deliver robust performances in which neither voice is subordinate.

City Recital Hall, Sydney
October 10, 2016

With the Steinway at full stick, pianist Andrew Tyson wasn’t shy about unleashing its power as he and violinist Benjamin Beilman launched into Mozart’s Sonata for Violin and Piano No 35, K526. Beilman’s full-throated sound cut through, though, the violinist easily meeting the precision Mozart demands with an effortless crispness in the fifth concert of the pair’s national tour for Musica Viva.

Given just as much weight as the violin, the piano part of Mozart’s K526 is stunningly virtuosic – the sonata a perfect choice as chamber music for two such vibrant musical personalities and a brilliant start to a thrilling concert of friendly sparring between the players. Large sections of the Andante are voiced as a trio, Beilman running parallel to Tyson’s left-hand and accompanying the melody in his right. Tyson unleashed steady streams of notes in the Presto – Beilman again playing second fiddle to the pianist for large sections – the pair joining fluently at the cadences. While Tyson’s sound threatened to overwhelm at times, this only added to the excitement of a robust performance.

From Beilman’s biting...