Tears and Cheers: The Flatiron Trio at the KWCMS
An edited version of this review appears in today’s Kitchener-Waterloo Record.
Attending a concert at the Music Room is always an experience to remember. It is a sort of inner-sanctum for chamber music lovers with its haphazard decoration forming a major part of its considerable charm. The chairs are a quaint mishmash of styles and although they are slightly more homogeneous than the last time I attended, arriving early to stake out the one that suits your body best is still essential. An episode of tardiness eight years ago was rewarded by an excruciating two hours on a backless bench but this time I knew better and managed to snag a well-cushioned place by the window. Fellow concert-goers talked animatedly to each other, inquiring about summer adventures and upcoming weekend plans. This friendly, communal atmosphere is one of the Music Room’s strongest assets. The other one is, of course, the music.
Friday night’s concert was the Flatiron Trio from New York. A rather cosmopolitan lot, the members first met twelve years ago during summer chamber music courses in Europe. After forming a permanent ensemble in 2005, Israeli-American violinist Nurit Pacht, Canadian cellist Jeremy Findlay and Russian pianist Elena Braslavsky have gone on to make quite a name for themselves.
Never ones to shrink form a challenge, the Trio chose to begin the program with an arrangement of Beethoven’s Symphony No.2 done by none other than Herr Ludwig himself. To modern sensibilities, reducing an orchestra of seventy to just three players seems a bit strange, pointless even. In the 19th century however, this was quite a common practice. Chamber music was music played among friends after dinner and compositions were often altered to suit the combination of players present. Beethoven’s status in 19th century Vienna meant that he was invited to a lot of parties. Instead of bringing wine, he brought music, so a significant portion of his output was the arrangement of his own music along with folksongs and popular operas.
The opening bars of the Symphony sounded oddly empty and the piano unusually harsh. After a few minutes however, it became apparent that this was not the fault of the players but rather a preconceived idea of how this piece should sound. It was in the second movement with a beautifully sensitive piano passages and sublime string interjections that the paradigm finally shifted. The Trio members are very experienced chamber players and have made time to develop strong ensemble skills. Lightening-fast passages in the last two movements were in tune and together, making the hair-tossing push to the finish line all the more exciting.
From the first moment of Brahms’ Trio No.2 Op 87, it was obvious that this was the music the Flatiron Trio was meant to play. As the manic tension of the Beethoven melted away, the whole room seemed to collectively exhale and settle in for what turned out to be the highlight of the evening. Pacht’s well placed slides and wide, romantic vibrato were a perfect match for Brahms’ score and her low register playing was delightfully rich and full. The audience was transfixed throughout and quick look round revealed that more than one member was moved to tears. It was easy to imagine, with the Trio almost within arm’s reach, that they were playing only for you.
The final piece on the program has only recently become part of standard piano trio repertoire and what a lovely addition it is. Dmitri Shostakovich wrote this piece at age 17 and while the style and harmonic language is unmistakably Shostakovich, the mood is uncharacteristically optimistic. What could cause a teenager to write such warm, unambiguous music? His first love, Tatiana Glivenko. The two met while on holiday in Crimea and stayed close, by some accounts engaged, until Glivenko married another man six years later.
The “I hate you/don’t leave me” drama of a typical teenage love affair were well represented by tempestuous ensemble sections that gave way without notice to soaring romantic melodies played brilliantly in turn by Braslavsky and Findlay. Wisely avoiding the bitter sarcasm so pervasive in the composer’s later works, the Trio chose instead to emphasize the unbridled enthusiasm and naïveté of love’s first blush.
A very grateful and enthusiastic audience was rewarded with “a bit of Joseph Haydn” as an encore. Period performance purists would have been apoplectic but on this occasion, the Trio’s unabashedly romantic approach was a delightful complement to the music. The rip-roaring rondo depicted a raucous 18th-century country party and was the perfect ending to a thoroughly enjoyable evening.
