By David Beech
Thomas Hoppe, piano, Annette von Hehn, violin, and Stefan Heinemeyer, cello
Every two years, since Chamber Music Monterey Bay began its support of the international Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson competition for young piano trios, we have had the opportunity to hear the latest winners. This has always been an exciting event, both for the quality of the playing, and for the wide appeal of this combination of strings and piano, and the performances by the ATOS Trio from Germany at Sunset Center last night ran true to form.
Often the composers of piano trios have themselves been accomplished pianists, such as Beethoven and Schubert, who wrote correspondingly ambitious piano parts, but the centerpiece of the ATOS program was an exception, being by the celebrated cellist Gaspar Cassada, who was a pupil of Casals. On the evidence of his vivid C major Trio, published in 1926, he could equally well have made his name as a composer (having studied composition with Ravel and de Falla). The concert really came alive with the almost frenzied risoluto opening of the work, with jagged Spanish rhythms, and full tone from all the instruments. Similar passages alternated with gentler lyrical interludes, where the trio exhibited a remarkable variety of colors and expression at relaxed tempi. The piano was played with a wide dynamic range and fully-pedaled sonority, sounding the best it has in this hall for some time. The middle movement began with ghostly glissandi and violin harmonics, with pizzicato interjections, and some notably sensitive cello solos. The balance of the three instruments was sonically excellent throughout, but in terms of expressiveness, the pianist and cellist allowed themselves greater freedom than the fine violinist, who was rather more restrained. The finale was full of Spanish dance rhythms and the typical use of a triplet pickup to a note, laced with humor and sentiment. A bravura performance indeed, received with cheers from the audience.
The opening Beethoven Trio in G major, Op.1 No.2, had been efficiently played, but gave little idea of the true potential of the ATOS Trio. This seemed to be largely due to a conscious decision to aim for a “period” effect, paying homage to Haydn and Mozart, with the modern grand piano being used to simulate a 1795 piano, or even a fortepiano, by using little pedal and a narrow dynamic range with light bass. The string parts were also lightweight, and in pianissimo almost dead. An alternative approach would have been to use the modern piano as Beethoven might have done, with similar warmth from the strings, but still within the classical mould – for a compelling example of this, try downloading the recording made by the young Daniel Barenboim with Pinchas Zukerman and Jacqueline duPre A performance of any of Beethoven’s Op.1 Trios ought to elicit wonder at the quality of his first published works.
By contrast, the performance of Schubert’s second Piano Trio, Op.100 D 929 in E Flat, was an extraordinary experience. The resources of the modern grand piano were used to the full (occasionally going slightly over the top), and the strings played with the warmth and charm that had been evident in the Cassada. This familiar warhorse of the repertoire was offered to us with new freshness and imagination, and quite early in the first movement, there were supple, gentle conversations between the parts that brought the true chamber music spirit to the stage. This gifted trio managed to communicate this to the audience more by drawing us into their world than by expressly aiming the music at us, and yet in pp and even ppp, there was a radiance about the sound that we were hearing. The haunting slow movement was played in lieder style, with the cello singing a melody of Swedish origin over the dry pulsing of the piano. Then came a beautiful legato violin line over piano triplets, and the violin and cello joining forces passionately to take the original melody. The Scherzo and Trio were nicely done, and the final major achievement was to hold the audience’s attention through the very long finale, in which Schubert could not resist reintroducing the Swedish tune from the slow movement, and even repeating it again in the coda, before the closing strong chords – as in all the previous movements, the ATOS Trio gave us a perfect ending.
End
[David Beech, an amateur clarinetist, pianist and clavichordist, is a frequent contributor as a guest reviewer in this column.]
