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“The whole programme was superbly performed, and extremely well received”~ John Button ~ read full review
“Trio rewarded by Chamber Music New Zealand with a ten centre tour”~ Samuel Holloway ~ read full review
“NZTrio asset to the musical life of NZ”~ Andrew Buchanan-Smart ~ read full review
“Three sophisticated musicians displayed at Auckland Museum”~ John Daly-Peoples ~ read full review
“They play as though virtuosity is just an incidental”~ Paul Serotsky ~ read full review
“The NZTrio are a gift to New Zealand composers.”~ John Psathas, New Zealand composer ~ read full review
24 April 2010
With a well-selected and varied programme, the NZTrio proved again what masterful musicians they are, engaging, delighting and imparting new perspectives to the appreciative audience.
It may be just me, but I often approach a programme of modern works with trepidation, expecting to be challenged by an impenetrable concoction of sounds that is probably academically interesting, and theoretically good for me, rather than necessarily pleasant, and I guiltily yearn for the relief of a classical piece.
Thursday night's programme was quite the opposite experience. The three contemporary works were easily approachable, full of energy and emotion, haunting lyricism and dramatic effects, and were executed with a passion and skill that left the audience amazed and applauding enthusiastically.
The concert opened with a piece depicting two contrasting colours by American composer Jennifer Higdon - the subdued Pale Yellow and the frenetic Red.
Superb musicianship was amply demonstrated in holding together the complex rhythms so precisely.
The first commissioned piece, So Many Rivers by Australian/NZ composer Judy Bailey, clearly showed her jazz roots in the gently meandering harmonies.
Pianist Sarah Watkins showed her fluid and graceful style to full effect, accompanying the lyrical duets of Justine Cormack's violin and Ashley Brown's cello.
There were many similar elements in the three movements of the Turina Trio, a much earlier piece written in 1926. It was full of melancholy, with brooding passion and flashes of Spanish fire.
The trio had worked with Stuart Greenbaum in the formative stages of the second commissioned work, the very topical The Year Without Summer which depicts a volcanic eruption and the ominous approach of the ash cloud, then its catastrophic aftermath.
The final piece was a Schumann Trio, and I found that the new experiences of the works that had gone before informed my appreciation of this classic. This was a lively and impassioned rendition, showing the breadth of the players' musical achievement.
Throughout the evening the musicians achieved absolute precision of tuning and timing, with immaculate unisons, and flawless counterpoint.
Once again, Chamber Music New Zealand has brought us excellent entertainment and the best of New Zealand talent.
