CELLO CONCERT, Sunday 20 January 2019 (a review)

A Celebration of the Cello

I was invited to attend a cello recital organised by Redland Park URC and the Bristol Korean Church on Sunday 20 January at 2.00pm, at Redland Park Church on Whiteladies Road. The recital was given by Haeun Kim (cello) accompanied by Yoonjoo Hong (piano).
Haeun Kim is a very accomplished cello player who has just completed her Master studies at the Royal Academy of Music. She has had considerable experience of working with a number of famous conductors and has given many solo recitals in addition to her orchestral work.
The programme chosen for this concert was well-balanced and allowed Hauen to display her talent when playing her 150 year-old cello The concert began with the first movement of the well-known cello concerto in C Major by Haydn which was impeccably performed. This was followed by the Vocalise by Rachmaninoff – a romantic piece in which Hauen brought out a full range of emotion. The novelty in the programme was a piece called “Alone” written by Sollima in 1999 for unaccompanied cello. The fast sections in this were ferociously technically difficult but were carried off very successfully.
After the interval, the main work was the Arpeggione Sonata by Schubert. This is a major work in three movements which cover a range of moods. The beautiful slow movement was particularly appreciated by the audience as was the lively finale. The concert ended with The Tarantella by Popper which is a showpiece for the cello and is very fast and technically very difficult. This performance deserved and received much applause. The piano accompaniment by Yoonjoo Hong showed an excellent rapport with Haeun throughout.
The concert was enthusiastically received by a large audience which packed out the church. Haeun was prevailed upon to give no less than three encores at the end. An enjoyable and inspiring Sunday afternoon.
J D McG