Emotion flows in grim piece by Shostakovich

Akron Beacon Journal - October 26th, 2006

by Elaine Gureglan

Every now and then, I go to a performance where I don't want to get up afterward. I don't want to crack open the bell jar of emotion that the performers have cast around me.

Tuesday night at E.J. Thomas Hall, when the trio of Yefim Bronfman, piano; Gil Shaham, violin; and Lynn Harrell, cello, finished the first half of the program with the Shostakovich Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor, Op. 67, that's how I felt.

Certainly knowing the story behind the piece made a difference. Hearing the grim, mordant dance music of the last movement, how could you not be affected by knowing how upset Shostakovich had been to find out that Jews in World War 11 were forced to dance before being killed?

But the background was extra. The expression is all contained in the music, or it came through that way in Tuesday's riveting performance by three players who are all masterful, established soloists in their own right. (Harrell is filling in on the national tour for cellist Truls Mork, who withdrew because his father is seriously ill.)

Consider Brofman, a player who can bring a hugely authoritative heft to his touch when it's needed, as in the beginning of the slow third movement of the Shostakovich, where a harmonically jagged series of piano chords is laid out in stately fashion. Brofman, unflinching, made the chords as stark as a soldier's blow.

Inevitably, a piano trio depends on its pianist to lead the way. Brofman, one of the most consistently excellent pianist playing today, did so with a strong point of view.

In the famous slow second movement of Schubert's Piano Trio No. 2 in E-flat Major, he set the tempo a little faster than usual. At a slower pace, it can sound thrillingly portentous, which is probably why it has been used for movie film scores, including Barry Lyndon . Taken a little faster, those associations drop away. (To anyone looking for a recording, I highly recommend a 2005 release by the Beaux Ars Trio on Warner Classic Label.)

The Mozart Piano Trio in C major, K. 548, was an easygoing beginning to this opening program of the Tuesday Musical season. Yet even here, the players' precision, close ensemble and unified concept gave it a distinctive profile. Their unhurried graciousness in the slow second movement of the Mozart was blissful.

Given that they had a standing ovation both before intermission and at the end of the concert, the ensemble went ahead with an encore. All evening, the players had a smiling rapport among themselves and with the audience. Announcing the encore, which began at the rather late hour of 10:15, Brofman announced impishly that they didn't wish for the event to become Wednesday Musical, but they would play the Scherzo from Schubert's "other" piano trio-that is, the Piano Trio No. 1 in B-flat Major, D. 898.

Looking around at the well filled house for this concert of chamber music, one could only credit Tuesday Musical for its unstinting efforts to continue building its audience. It was a nice gesture from this Akron organization, which has depended so much on volunteers, to dedicate Tuesday's recital to the late Dr. Bruce F. Rothmann. who with his wife, Lola, (in attendance on Tuesday) was a staunch and generous supporter of the group.