New Zealand Trio at the Auckland University Music Theatre

By WILLIAM DART

Starting almost 15 minutes late with some Mozart that was, to put it kindly, on the scrappy side, the New Zealand Trio's second concert for this year looked for a while as if it might be a letdown.

The C major Trio (K 548) is one of Mozart's sunniest but the opening Allegro came across as tense and tentative.

There were slipped semiquavers all around, and Justine Cormack's intonation was often raw. Even some finely shaded solos from Ashley Brown in the Andante cantabile couldn't remove the bitter taste of what had preceded them.

Anthony Ritchie's Piano Trio found the musicians on more secure ground, dispensing the crackle and style that always caught the ear in the ensemble's previous concerts.

This score reveals the Dunedin composer's formidable technique, with the opening direction of Allegro barbaro giving away just one of his influences. However, I'd rather have not known the psychological argument behind its first movement ("bad boy" painted in marching dissonances while wispy strings reveal the "good boy").

The finest writing lies in the second movement's less specific portrait of depression, terrifyingly caught by the players.

The finale, despite its silly title of Hyper-dyper, was a sprightly showpiece for the group.

The second New Zealand work was Penny Axten's For violin, violoncello and piano. Essentially a student composition, albeit a prizewinning one, this impressed with its structural nous and a palette that spanned from ethereal harmonics to pounding cluster chords enthusiastically delivered by Sarah Watkins.

The trio was also on form for Smetana's G minor Piano Trio, an attractive slice of the Slavic repertoire. The piece, of some intensity, was written after the death of the composer's daughter. I was captivated from the first passionate notes of Cormack's opening solo. Melody flowed in abundance throughout and the emotions with it.

As if to atone for the earlier disappointing Mozart, we were given an Adagio by Arvo Part which toyed elegantly with a slow movement from one of the master's piano sonatas.

This made a perfect encore, exquisitely rendered and not without a smidgen of provocation.