Virtuosi Tasmania
Samuel Hooper (violin), Meriel Owen (piano)
Level 2 Performance Area
St. Mary’s Cathedral, Hobart, 29 August
Samuel Hooper is a 15-year-old violinist and student of Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra Concertmaster Emma McGrath. He is also a Grade 9 pupil at Taroona High School, Hobart. Meriel Owen is an accomplished pianist and harpist with the TSO.
Samuel’s playing was a revelation! Recognition of his extraordinary talent has already seen him perform with the TSO as the 2024 Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra Rising Star. He has also been the recipient of prizes at competitions and eisteddfods in Hobart, Melbourne and Sydney since 2022.
Hearing him play for the first time was a unique experience. He displays a depth of musicianship, technical security and passionate response to the music that is already quite remarkable. Samuel’s performance of a violin and piano transcription of Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 5 in A major, K219 was strong and fluent, the highlight of which was a beautifully poised and phrased cadenza in the slow movement. Meriel Owen’s support was focussed and sympathetic. Two movements from J. S. Bach’s Partita No. 3 in E major, BWV 1006 for solo violin (1. Preludio, 3. Gavotte en Rondeau) were stunningly impressive in their accuracy, verve and stylishness.
Brahms’ Sonatensatz (Sonata Movement) is the second movement scherzo from a collaborative work, the F-A-E sonata by German composers Albert Dietrich, Schumann and Brahms, as a gift to violinist Joseph Joachim in 1853. As the 20-year-old composer’s first instrumental piece it displays the characteristics of what was to come in its combination of muscularity and lyricism. Samuel brought a wonderful blend of energy and elegance to this now infrequently performed work.
The concert ended with two pieces from the Nationalistic Schools of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Again, the young performer, at this early stage of his development, responded empathetically to the Czech idiom of the Andantino second movement of Smetana’s Z domoviny (From the homeland), JB1:118 with its distinctive folk influences as well as rhythmic and melodic shaping.
Finally, a substantial encore – Sibelius’s Mazurka No. 1 from Five Pieces for Violin and Piano, Op.81 - where Samuel’s virtuosic display with its melodic leaps and double stopping left the listener stunned in admiration. Meriel Owen throughout offered well shaped and alert accompaniments.
Peter Donnelly
30 August 2025