Ariana Kashefi & Timothy End, Central Hall, Darlington

FOR their latest recital, Darlington Music Society presented two young musicians, Ariana Kashefi on cello and pianist Timothy End, who have already won a number of prizes as individual musicians.

What was striking throughout this performance was the very easy rapport they had with each other, their individual instruments well balanced with finely controlled dynamics.

Opening with Beethoven’s Cello Sonata in C, Op. 102, No. 1, there was a lovely yearning sound from the cello in the Adagio with the musicians watching and listening to each other very attentively.

In contrast, Janá?ek’s Pohádka was a highly dramatic, often tense piece, although it was tempered with gentler sounds here and there.

Rachmaninov’s Vocalise may have begun as a vocal exercise but its haunting melody makes it an attractive recital piece giving Miss Kashefi in particular an opportunity to show off the cello’s own singing tone.

The major piece in their programme was Rachmaninov’s virtuosic and demanding Cello Sonata where I thought cello and piano were well balanced.

It’s a wide ranging rhapsodic piece, often dramatic and impassioned, but in this performance, always coherent and enjoyable.

If that seemed virtuosic I don’t know how you’d describe Paganini’s Variations on one string which was a stunning showpiece for the cello.

The duo will perform a largely different programme for Ripon Cathedral Concert Society on Monday, March 9 (riponconcerts.co.uk).

Peter Bevan