Sydney Morning Herald Review: CATHEXIS

See article in its original context here by Clive O’Connell for the Sydney Morning Herald.

Reviewer rating:

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Cathexis
Fortyfivedownstairs
December 16

This new group, a young and expert quartet dedicated to contemporary music, presented six works, juxtaposing Australian alongside Italian, American and Argentinian compositions that, against expectations, made a satisfyingly integrated experience.

While one or two pieces provided a less-than-emphatic impact, most achieved their intended targets: expanding the listener’s acoustic/sonic experience, displaying the talent and dedication of the executants, and every so often leaving you with the uneasy feeling that, somewhere along the line, the intended message has escaped you.

In near darkness, the combined membership – flute Lina Andonovska, trumpet Callum G’Froerer, percussion Matthias Schack-Arnott, keyboard Peter de Jager – played Stephen Feigenbaum’s barely audible Angel, a series of monochromatic whispers that move into recognisable form only to die out.