 |
|
|
|
The Gramophone Brio and brilliance from this Danish trio’s debut Bloch, Three Nocturnes; Dvorak, Piano Trio No. 4, Dumky, Op. 90
The group’s lucid elegance is well suited to Ravel’s Piano Trio. The opening Modéré is especially well done, capturing the brooding ruminative expression, with wonderfully languorous violin playing by Soo-Jin Hong. The clarity and spotless articulation of the sisters’ string playing is striking even under pressure in the explosive concluding section. The trio’s airtight ensemble and natural pacing show a firm grasp of Ravel’s structure and style, with the ensuing Pantoum tossed off with the right lightly tripping vivacity. The Passacaille is a bit metrical at times and tension not always sustained, but for the most part, their spacious eloquent playing is faultless, with hushed, evocative keyboard work by Elvekjaer at the coda. The performance is rounded off with a sparkling and energized Animé, blending polish and fizzing energy in fine order. The young musicians bring the same finesse to Dvorák’s beloved Dumky. The opening Lento is aptly spacious with a burst of acceleration in the ensuing bravura section. Yet unlike the Ravel, the Dvorák performance stays largely on the outside. The Poco adagio is sensitively rendered yet the players don’t quite plumb its tragic heart of darkness, tending to underplay the music’s rustic edge and mercurial contrasts. There’s something decidedly Northern about the trio’s approach, missing the febrile Central European expression with playing that seems too cool and comfortable for such impassioned music. No complaints about the Three Nocturnes of Ernest Bloch. The players have the full measure of these lovely miniatures playing with just the right lyrical grace and heartfelt expression.Even with a Dvorák Dumky that sounds not quite lived-in yet, the Ravel and Bloch performances can compete with the best available. The Trio con Brio Copenhagen is clearly a superb, greatly gifted chamber group, and I look forward to future encounters. Lawrence A. Johnson Return to the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson International Trio Award
|
||
