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There must have been many delayed premieres over the past year. Brian Elias’ Piano Trio was due several months ago, but was not presented to an audience until the end of May. It is a work in five linked movements, with Haydn, says the composer, an inspiration in the background. The opening Allegro is a “call to attention”, with fervent and rhetorical strings in the foreground, which darkens before culminating in a Lento, the first of two slow movements, with long, interwoven melodies, which drew sustained lyrical play even as the lines plunged. and dipped, with ornamental flourishes and an occasional double stop. There was a great tonal intensity in the trio (I believe) of the central Presto, and it all ended with a second Presto. This is an energetic and entertaining work with a wide range of emotions, which brought excellent playing from the Rautio Trio.
In Schubert’s Trio in E flat major, they were frank and exuberant, with rhythms springing up in the first movement. At the start of the Andante, cellist Victoria Simonsen was both simple and wonderfully expressive, and they carried the narrative line through the long movement with expressive intensity. There was charm in the Scherzo, and the latest Allegro Moderato went from dignified dance to energetic drama.
TIM HOMFRAY
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