30 Aug 2006 : Frantic work-out of fingers and bows

Lyell Cresswell's Moto Perpetuo was a zesty launch for the New Zealand Trio's Sunday concert. The composer may describe its perpetual motion in terms of beats-per-second but to my ears, those offbeat, scampering rhythms sounded more like Bartok playing tag with Dave Brubeck. However, the musical language here is pure Cresswell, testing the group's split second ensemble and the musicians' ability to tease phrases out of roving and restless textures - which they did brilliantly.

The other local commission, John Rimmer's Burning the Calories, laid out a punishing workout schedule from “warm-up” to “warm-down”. In between, fingers and bows were kept frantic in three “burn” sections. Rimmer challenges his players to maintain poise in a score where the soundworld is defined by evanescent harmonics and tremolos. The composer's dynamics may seem pernickety, but observing them is the key to the magic of the work, no-where more so than during Ashley Brown's breathtaking solo work in the final “burn”.

Talk about listener-friendly, Ross Edwards' Piano Trio almost gave the audience a collective hug, with its luscious harmonies and shameless lyricism. Arcs of melodies spilled from the string chords in the first movement and Brown melted hearts with his soaring solo in the second movement. The Finale was a dance to end all dances.

Bright Sheng's Four Movements for Piano Trio was a timely introduction to a Chinese-American composer who deserves to be heard in our concert halls. The trio presented the central movements with unquenchable fire, pulling back in intensity to illuminate the colouristic subtleties that introduce and close the set.

The NZ Trio played Shostakovich's E minor Trio in the 2003 debut concert. Since then, their interpretation of the score has grown mightily. Brown said as much in his short introduction; Sunday's performance confirmed it. There was a new maturity in the finely balanced timbres of the opening Andante, and in the fury that burst from the Allegro ma non troppo. The greatest moment? Doubtlessly when Brown and Justine Cormack humanised, as only strings can do, the chain of ominous chords that pianist Sarah Watkins gave out at the beginning of the Passacaglia.

William Dart - New Zealand Herald