KEY POINTS:
CHAMBER MUSIC
What: Kungsbacka Trio
Where: Auckland Town Hall
Reviewer: William Dart
Since their 1999 success in the Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition, the Kungsbacka Trio has taken its place as one of the world's leading ensembles.
With well-reviewed CDs available, and a New Zealand composer on the programme, it was disappointing that they drew an average-sized, if enthusiastic, audience to this Chamber Music New Zealand concert.
Schubert's E flat Trio, which took up the first half of the evening, would not have disappointed anyone who has been won over by the musicians' recent Naxos recording.
They recreated it on the town hall stage, in a performance of staggering dynamic range.
Even in the most fragile moments, of which there were many, one felt the tensile strength behind them. The many miracles included a massive crescendo which virtually melted into the first movement's second subject.
By the development section, one was entranced by the subtle partnership of Malin Broman's violin and Jesper Svedberg's cello.
Broman, introducing the work, speaking of the Swedish folksong which inspired Schubert's Andante, perhaps explained why their playing of this movement was so poignant.
The two string players energetically pursued Simon Crawford-Phillips's glittering trail in the Scherzo and the energy of the finale did not let up for one semiquaver.
After the interval, the Kungsbackas responded openly to the undeniable immediacy of Gareth Farr's Ahi. The opening Semplice ma espressivo was almost crystalline in its clarity; the Scherzo, a tumult of sound.
Crawford-Phillips introduced the final work with eloquence. Such were the expressive possibilities of this medium, he suggested, that the piano trio was the perfect setting for works of dedication. Smetana's 1855 piano trio, written on the death of his daughter, is one vast outpouring of often raw feelings.
The musicians caught the composer's shifting states of mind in the first movement, navigating startling chromaticisms and jolts of style until the climax came in a searing Finale.
Within 24 hours, the Kungsbacka Trio would be playing Beethoven's Archduke Trio in Wellington. They gave us Beethoven as an encore; a buoyant and characterful third movement from the composer's Trio, Opus 70 No 2. Come back soon!
