Atos Trio
Deep communication in an intriguing program
February 16, 2010
The Atos Trio, a first-class piano trio that formed just seven years ago in Germany, made its local début Feb. 14 in an intriguingly structured program, superbly played. Temple Beth-El was the venue for the San Antonio Chamber Music Society presentation.
The first half placed American composer Leon Kirchner’s Piano Trio No. 1 (1954) between two single-movement works by Franz Schubert -- the early Sonata Movement in B-flat, D. 28, and the late Adagio in B-flat, “Notturno.” The closer was Johannes Brahms’s first published chamber work, the Piano Trio in B.
Kirchner’s modernist, tonally free-wheeling sound world is far from Schubert’s -- and not. Kirchner’s trio has a lyrical, even rhapsodic streak and a penchant for intense drmatic peaks that put it on axis with Schubert, and the trio’s slow second movement Kirchner examines a meditative theme from several perspectives, teasing it apart and modulating its emotional temperature in ways that recall Schubert’s methods. The concert’s Aha! moment came with Schubert’s “Notturno,” which seemed almost like a benediction to the Kirchner piece and was similarly structured.
It’s a shame we don’t get to hear more music by Kirchner, who died last September. Years ago David Garrett, then with the San Antonio Symphony, played Kirchner’s For Cello Solo in a memorable recital. The only Kirchner on a recent program was another performance of the Piano Trio No. 1, in 2006 by the excellent Claremont Trio -- like the Atos, a winner of the vaunted Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson International Trio Award.
The members of the Atos Trio communicated with each other in a deep way that allowed each some independence of movement within a fully unified framework. The lines were consistently lively, even in the slowest tempos.
Individual musicianship was top-drawer, as well. The gleaming brightness of Annette von Hehn’s violin nicely complemented the caramel warmth of Stefan Heinemeyer’s cello, and both were careful to gauge their vibratos to the distinct styles and periods of the three composers. Pianist Thomas Hoppe played with clarity and a sense of momentum that helped make these performances exciting as well as beautiful.
Mike
Greenberg
