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CHAMBER MUSIC REVIEW
Obstacles Surmounted November 14, 2001
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By Michael Fiday
The Main Post Chapel in San Francisco's Presidio, host to last
Wednesday's concert by the Naumburg Award-winning Peabody Trio, would at
first seem to be an ideal setting for an evening of hearty 19th century
repertoire. There was almost something gothic about the appearance of the
piano trio on the chapel's altar, with the piano occupying the elevated back
portion of the stage as if inside a grotto. The stormy nature of the
program, which happened to include Beethoven's famed "Ghost" Trio, was
reinforced by other aspects as well, including a misty Presidio, an
obstinate foghorn and (unfortunately) a dead piano.
The concert was given as a joint benefit in support of music scholarships
from Music in the Vineyards, who hosted the evening, and for the Yellow Barn
Music School and Festival in Putney, Vermont, where the Peabody Trio holds a
yearly summer residence.
Each of the movements of Robert Schumann's Fantasy Pieces Op. 88, which opened the program, might best be described as individual abstract musical dramas: character sketches consisting of wildly contrasting sections strung together to suggest a narrative, the details of which are left to the listener's imagination. The work runs an expressive gamut from a lyric simplicity in the opening Romance and third-movement Duet to a decidedly dark shade of humor in the Humoreske, concluding with the heroic “gallop” of the Finale — all features finely underscored by the Peabody Trio. However, given the central role of the piano, at times Op. 88 could almost be described as character pieces for piano solo with violin and cello accompaniment. Pianist Seth Knopp played with an admirable degree of sensitivity but the piano's inability to project rendered many of his nuances overly precious or allowed some of the strings' supportive highlighting to overshadow more important material in the piano. Bringing the trio off the the back wall and closer to the audience, though less visually appealing, may have given the piano more presence, better serving Knopp's considerable musicality.
Though there is much to admire about the outer movements of Beethoven's "Ghost" Trio Op. 70, No. 1 — its forcefully caffeinated opening, the fleet-footed ebullience of the final Presto — it is the second-movement Largo, with its lugubrious pace, unstable harmonies and eerie timbres, which earns the work its mantle. The Peabody's interpretation was exceptional: full of pathos, suspense and atmosphere. Here again the piano is of supreme importance, but maintained more of a presence than in the Schumann due to a more transparent scoring. Knopp's attention to pianistic color (low rumbles, chords voiced in registral extremes, etc.) provided the backdrop against which Beethoven's spectral drama plays itself out, and the trio as a whole sustained the work's slow-burn intensity throughout. In the end this ghost would not rest: after a final cadence in D minor the Golden Gate foghorn continued to bray a dominant A-natural. The Brahms Op. 8 Trio in B major found the Peabody on more expansive and challenging terrain. Opening with a tune as lovely and big-hearted as any Brahms ever wrote, the work soon encounters the tightly-controlled fury of the second-movement Scherzo (containing some fiendishly difficult passages in the piano), a suspended and plaintative Adagio, and a final Allegro whose off-beats lend the movement a sense of headlong propulsion. With the exception of a few exposed clunkers on the piano (perhaps as a result of Knopp again struggling to project), the trio navigated the work's twists and turns admirably, sustaining its lyric interest and keeping Brahms' fresh rhythmic approach on edge. The string playing was near flawless. Perhaps what is most impressive about the Peabody Trio is their degree of communication and attentiveness to one another — pure requisites for true chamber music playing. Both Knopp and cellist Natasha Brofsky are very animated players. Violinist Violaine Melancon has a physical control which is deceptive: she plays with a sure tone and considerable passion. Even during rests, one sensed the individual performers were still at work, maintaining eye contact, empathizing with a musical gesture, remaining present. In spite of obstacles, it was a rewarding evening of chamber music. Final score: Peabody Trio 2, foghorns and dead pianos 1. (Michael Fiday is a composer currently residing in Oakland. His 'Automotive Passacaglia' was premiered last season by the Oakland East Bay Symphony.) ©2001 Michael Fiday, all rights reserved |
