Concert Review | Chamber Music Columbus: Trio able to achieve refined artistic unity

By Lynn Green
For The Columbus Dispatch Sunday January 29, 2012 11:31 AM
Reproduced with permission from the Dispatch

A near-sellout crowd gathered last night at the Southern Theatre to hear Chamber Music Columbus’ presentation of cellist David Finckel and pianist Wu Han, joined by clarinetist David Shifrin.

Wu and Finckel are a married couple as well as a performing duo. Likely due to their long-term professional and personal relationships, their musical gestures both complement and mirror each other’s. Fortunately, they are also skilled in sharing that musical space with other performers.

Wu performs with a deep intuition and a keen observation of other musicians, never obscuring them but never taking a subordinate role. She is able to be the “glue” that balances and strengthens an ensemble. Finckel’s technique and expression are superbly refined, and Shifrin displays a polished, artistic facility with the clarinet.

Last night’s performance focused solely on German music. Ludwig van Beethoven’s Trio in B-flat major was the weakest of the selections on the program. The theater’s acoustics darkened the color of the piano and cello but brightened the clarinet, causing an overall disjunct timbre. The cello was often lost beneath the other instruments. The balance between fervor and grace was admirable, but expressive subtlety was often mediocre.

However, moments of the second movement were memorable, with the three voices expressing three thoughts simultaneously. Here, the trio avoided the common, cloying approach to Beethoven’s melodies, choosing instead to let their respective themes speak directly and clearly.

The trio was strongest in Johannes Brahms’ Trio in A minor. Here, the individuals’ subtleties of texture, timbre, and dynamics were at their most refined and artistic, and their timbres reached a strong agreement. The long, contemplative, opening phrases of the second movement showed Shifrin’s mastery of expressiveness, while the frequent and seamless passing of thematic material among the voices revealed a single-mindedness that many ensembles can only wish to achieve.