Claremont Trio Offers "Brilliant" Performance

Published: Sunday, March 21, 2010

Updated: Sunday, March 21, 2010 20:03

For years the Houghton College Artist Series has engaged an eclectic array of musical ensembles for on-campus concerts. Friday evening's concert featuring The Claremont Trio exhibited a rare combination of technical facility, musicality, and stage presence. Comprised of a cellist, violinist, and pianist, these Julliard graduates have been touring and recording for ten years and command an immaculate level of technical and interpretational brilliance, earning them the justifiable hailing as the "premier trio of its generation."

The program began with Haydn's Trio in A Major (Hob. XV:18). The trio dazzled the audience with a charming interpretation of the piece, still retaining key features of Haydn's simplicity. Perhaps the best exhibition of the technical mastery of the musicians could be seen in the frequent display of the "Haydn Grand Pause," a musical gesture of silence, separating musical phrases. The Claremont Trio cut into the grand pauses with such secure and cohesive synchronization, one wondered how it could be three separate instruments.

Technical and musical precision abounded during the second piece, Cassado's Trio in C Major, in which the Claremont Trio explored the vivid spectrum of color found in Spanish music. In contrast with Haydn, the trio left the traditional reservations of the classical style and found their expressiveness in the moods of conventional Spanish music set by a 20^th century composer. Brimming with imagery and homage to the culture of Spain, the piece made good use of percussive rhythms and virtuosic solo lines, and pushed the instruments to their limits.

The highlight of the program was perhaps the Mendelssohn Trio in D Minor. Key to this piece was the delicate and highly intricate phrasing, and the subtle and expressive interplay between the cello and violin. Even amid the diverse timbres of piano, violin, and cello, the trio was able to create near-seamless melodic lines.

The trio kept the music in the forefront at all times, never letting their impressive stage presence or instrumentality overwhelm the character of their programmed selections.

After two enthusiastic curtain calls, the trio closed the evening with an encore selection from Paul Schoenfield's "Cafe Music." This contemporary, jazz-like piece, while a far stylistic cry from the rest of the program, delighted the audience with jaunty images of a street cafe.

The trio commented on what a privilege it was to be able to play at Houghton. It is to be hoped that the Claremont Trio understood what a privilege it was for the Houghton community to enjoy an evening of such fine artistry.