William Dart review: NZTrio’s Homeland a musical triumph

Sunday night’s second instalment of NZTrio’s Homeland series was an unmitigated triumph. Photo / Katherine Brook

Sunday night’s second instalment of NZTrio’s Homeland series was an unmitigated triumph, a showcase for this top-notch ensemble in another concert based around Dvorak.

The Czech composer’s great F minor Piano Trio offered the musical substance that both the players and the audience appreciated, particularly in the Brahmsian gravitas and drama of its first movement.

An ensuing allegro grazioso might well have been allegro giocoso, such was the bracing good humour of its bustling cross-rhythms. Here was Dvorak very much at home, in folk dance mode, with pianist Somi Kim contributing some particularly lithe keyboard dashes.

For just over 40 minutes, these musicians brilliantly sustained this demanding score, right through to the occasionally feisty frolics of its finale. And many must have taken home special memories of Amalia Hall and Ashley Brown’s sonorous duetting in a meltingly beautiful poco adagio.

The concert opened with Chen Yi’s Tunes from my Home, revisiting the vibrant folk traditions from a childhood marred by the Cultural Revolution. With unrelenting energy, outbursts of almost terrifying passion were placated by lighter, almost jazzy relief.

NZTrio totally surrendered to the frank romanticism of George Enescu’s 1916 Piano Trio and conveyed it to a rapt audience, catching its iridescent harmonic swells and soaring textures in graceful swoons and sighs.

It was good to be reminded by composer Victoria Kelly, introducing her new work, Lyre, that NZTrio has commissioned and premiered over 50 New Zealand compositions.

Kelly’s special gift for making music approachable, as seen in her Requiem earlier this year, is very much evident in Lyre, a piece inspired by exploring family roots in the Faroe Islands.

All musical elements and features coming up were engagingly explained and, when performed, made immediate impact. An opening for strings, with flickering grace notes and glassy harmonics, gained a new context over hushed piano chords that would then morph into flamboyant sweeps over imaginary lyre strings; all this in just a few minutes of sonic enchantment.

The Details

What: NZTrio

Where: Town Hall Concert Chamber

When: Sunday

Reviewer: William Dart