Patricia Pollett
Patricia Pollett plays the viola with passion and a big, warm tone that makes the instrument sing. Her recordings run from Brahms and Bruch with orchestra to Australian chamber scores written expressly for her.
In Perihelion, the Brisbane chamber group with the unusual lineup of clarinet, viola, piano and cello, she recorded Australian scores written for the ensemble: Edwards's Ecstatic Dance, Henderson's G'Day Africa, Sabin's Points of Departure, Schultz's Dead Songs and Mephisto. Her solo programmes gather first recordings and pieces written for her, among them Kats-Chernin's six-part Still Life, Andrew Ford's Swansong, Schultz's Attack and Duo Variations, Sculthorpe's Threnody and Betty Beath's From a Quiet Place. She can be cello-rich and declamatory in a lament, lean and spare when the line wants simplicity, with a delicacy that matches the passion. With orchestra she takes Berio's orchestration of Brahms, Bruch's Romance and Schubert's Arpeggione, music that shows how much more the viola can do than elegy alone.
Patricia Pollett is featured on the following titles
Still Life: Australian Music for Viola
This is the third solo viola disc on Tall Poppies, and one of the few such albums ever issued in Australia. Patricia Pollett is widely regarded as among the country’s finest musicians, and the violist who has done most to draw new works for the instrument.
Viola Power
It's hard to imagine a CD of Australian music for the viola, but here it is. From Grainger's chirpy love song through Ross Edwards' intricate dance to Peter Sculthorpe's masterful work with percussion.
Works for Viola and Orchestra
Patricia Pollett's debut solo disc makes a strong case for the viola beyond the usual elegiac repertoire, pairing orchestrated Romantic sonatas with Bruch and a new Australian work.
Performing as Perihelion
Perihelion's rare lineup of clarinet, viola, piano and cello made the Brisbane chamber group a commissioning engine for Australian composers. Their recordings catch scores written for that mix at full colour and bite.
Andrew Schultz: Chamber Music
Andrew Schultz is a younger Australian composer. This first disc devoted to his music gathers chamber works from the rollicking solo piano Sea-Change to the dramatic ensemble piece Mephisto and the poignant song cycle Dead Songs.
Points of Departure
Perihelion, the Brisbane chamber group of clarinet, viola, piano and cello, built its repertoire largely through commissions. This disc gathers some of the ensemble’s most successful new Australian works.
Patricia Pollett also appears on
Chamber of Horrors
Tall Poppies presents chamber music by Elena Kats-Chernin, one of Australia’s most loved composers, in works written for the musicians who play them here.
Raft Song at Sunrise: Chamber Music, Vol. 2
Following the best-selling first volume of Ross Edwards’s chamber music (TP051), this disc gathers some of his most enduring works, recorded here for the first time.
Awakening
Marshall McGuire is a formidable asset to Australia’s contemporary music scene, and the only harpist specialising in both baroque harp and all forms of modern music. This Tall Poppies disc remains a catalogue best-seller.
Ecstatic Dances: Chamber Music, Vol. 1
One of Tall Poppies' most successful releases, this collection of Ross Edwards's chamber music sets his meditative sacred style beside the buoyant energy of his Maninya pieces.
Patricia Pollett is a member of
Perihelion
Perihelion's rare lineup of clarinet, viola, piano and cello made the Brisbane chamber group a commissioning engine for Australian composers. Their recordings catch scores written for that mix at full colour and bite.