Vienna Piano Trio

Dates and Venue 1 March @ 8:00 pm | Vancouver Playhouse, Vancouver

Reviewer Ed Farolan

 

The almost annual return of the Vienna Piano Trio to The Friends of Chamber Music is something in the nature of a special event. Acclaimed for presenting classical music with a modern appeal, the Trio has won numerous prizes at international competitions. The group’s recordings have won many awards, including the British magazine Classic CD’s “Top of the Class” award in 1999 and The London Times’ “Classical Album of the Year” in 2000. Their recording of Dvorák was chosen as the 1996 “Record of the Year” by BBC3 Radio.

Mozart's Piano Trio in E major, K542 started simply, and later on gave way towards chromatic variation and key changes. Stefan Mendl on the piano was genial, as he went on to the Andante grazioso in the middle movement, and with Mathias Gredler on cello and Wolfgang Redik on violin, delivered the finale unerringly and with panache.

Schumann's Fantasiestucke (Piano Trio), Opus 88 followed. This opus had a Haydnesque quality about it as the piano dominated, and then in the finale, I was feeling a Russian rush in me as the Trio elicited the Im Marsch-Tempo.

Brahm's Trio No. 2 in C Major, Op. 87 burst off with an Allegro animato written in a vigorus sonata form, conceived by the composer mainly for strings. The Andante followed, and again, the strings gave a gypsy-like quality to the composition. The Scherzo in the next movement had a dark mood, and the Trio delivered this movement with an aura of mystery. The Finale was a stark contrast to the Scherzo, a jocose, spirited delivery, first, by violin and cello, and then the piano in exuberante, giving a brilliant conclusion to the fine work of this Trio.

© 2010 Ed Farolan