Concert Review: Fiona Pears and Connor Hartley-Hall, OSPA Theatre, Onewhero 14 February 2021

The show was titled South of France. The virtuoso violinist and guitarist took flight from the opening song and captivate us all with music that could casts spells.

Fiona Pears would easily be one of the best violinists I’ve heard. A child prodigy from Christchurch. Won a talent show at age six. Playing in national orchestras in her teens. Exploded her repertoire into Jazz, Folk, Gypsy and beyond and was part of a Swing Jazz combo before her Twenties. Is a composer and arranger. Played around the world as a virtuoso. Performed with Dave Dobbyn, Hayley Westenra and Bic Runga. Opened for the likes of Tony Bennett and Victor Borge.

Connor Hartley-Hall is a young Jazz guitarist also from Christchurch. They are a recent musical partnership after Fiona was given a hot tip.

Promoted by Creative Arts NZ they are goin’ up the country and have arrived at this picturesque theatre in the hills of Franklin just above the Waikato river.

Django Rheinhart and Stephane Grappelli are starting points for a show which takes flight from opening song Seul Ce Soir. A nice swinging jaunt on the violin with sudden swoops and dynamic shifts.

Lime House Blues. Fast riffing violin across Gypsy melodies. The guitarist answers and is just as fleet.

Night in Tunisia. Pears swings like a dancer until she gets too fast. If I was on my feet, I would just sway.

Bei Dir War Immer So Schon a German ballad. The guitar bends notes and sounds like Santo and Johnny sleepwalking. The violin does the same on high. Soulful and expressive.

Chick Corea’s Spain. A Flamenco intro from the guitar. Violin starts quietly like a chamber piece. Takes off like lightning with piercing high notes and changes tempo to Middle Eastern tones.

Pears original compositions are every bit as good. Like My Little Birdies. Starts slowly as a cat stalking. Violin becomes a fiddle and I hear Bluegrass which morphs into Gypsy melodies. Roots Country and Western as the tune rolls and races.

Then there is This Land. A Folk melody going back to Scottish origins as the violin plays bagpipe tones. The mood is sad and grieving and seems to come straight out of Americana of the Civil War period. Written with New Zealand in mind. The Land Wars here were at the same time.

The familiar standards are superb.

Cry Me a River. From the classic American songbook and Ella Fitzgeralds version pops into my head. Softer tones and wonderful finger-style guitar plays Jazz piano. The violin goes wild and witchy in the middle.

Over the Rainbow. Shivers and trembles on a high tightrope.

The cell-phones intrude with their civil emergency alarms. Another lockdown has been dropped upon us. We are in the hills at the border region.

The mood a little blue as Pears plays her own Nightingale Song. Written around Berkeley Square in London. A slow Pop reverie with thrilling leaps to the high register. A violin yodel?

Close with a Russian tune Dark Eyes. A fast flat-picking guitar lays out Eastern European Gypsy melody. Dance and Swing.

A warm summer evening in spectacular setting where we were transported by music of the highest quality. Rising above any madness emanating from elsewhere.

Rev Orange Peel