The acoustic of St Bartholomew's Church is particularly well suited to small instrumental groups and twin cellists Pei-Jee and Pei-Sian Ng made the most of it.

Although of Asian descent, they were born in Sydney Australia and are currently studying at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester.

Their empathy with each other and the music shows maturity beyond their 24 years.

The programme was well chosen to demonstrate both their virtuosity and the versatility of their instruments.

They began with a Sonata by 18th century Jean Barriere, a traditionally melodic piece with a challenging Allegro finish.

Next came a suite by David Popper, which gave wider scope for the brothersí skills. It began with a lush, romantic movement, moved on to Largo espressivo, which was indeed expressive with gorgeous rich tones and plenty of light and shade, with a brisk march changing the mood and tempo as the final movement.

Two modern works completed the programme. Black River, telling the story of the duel which led to the death of Russian poet Alexander Pushkin, was written for them a few months ago by fellow student Daniel Kidane, who was in the audience to share the honours.

In contrast to the gentle melodies of Popper, this was strident, harsh and dramatic, a gripping work, whose intensity was reflected in the cellists facial expressions.

The last work was again composed for the Ng twins, by one of Australia's foremost composers Elena Kats-Chernin.

Phoenix Story deals with two characters from traditional Chinese mythology, the Phoenix and the Dragon. There were little hints of Chinese melody which subtly passed from one cello to the other and led to a playful exhilarating finale.

Jo Bayne

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