23rd October 2015
| Haydn | Piano Trio in E Major Hob XV/28 |
| Mendelssohn | Piano Trio No 1 in D minor Op 49 |
| Hans Werner Henze | Chamber Sonata |
| Dvořák | Piano Trio Op 90 (Dumky) |
Where shall we start? There was so much right about this concert that it is hard to decide what to begin with. The Busch played masterfully in all the varied styles and moods that tonight's programme demanded, from the soaring song of Mendelssohn, through Henze's experimental tone colours, to the soulful folk-melancholy and bucolic boisterousness of Dvorak. Omri Epstein's piano dazzled in the blisteringly fast tempi of the Mendelssohn's last two movements, and cellist brother Ori poured out his soul in Dvorak's Dumky, but for me, the most magic moments came from the perfect ensemble and sculptured long phrasing of their quiet calm playing: the slow pulses of the Dumky and the exquisite end of the Mendelssohn slow movement were particularly wonderful.
The program started with a little-played trio of Haydn's whose slow middle movement shows Haydn at his most experimental. The violin and cello rest for a 28-bar long piano solo and then join in with the violin playing the bass-line above the piano and cello's descant. Extraordinary, but somehow it worked thanks to the Busch's intelligent balance and phrasing. Haydn also ended the concert with the well-known Gypsy Rondo from another of his piano trios. Again, the tempo was daring, the playing dazzling and the audience suitably grateful.
Reviewer: Chris Darwin
Photographer: David James