Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio at the Perelman
Inevitably, "esteemed" is the jargony adjective that attaches itself to groups that have been around as long as the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio, but the ensemble has the numbers to back it up. The group was founded by way of a White House performance for Jimmy Carter's 1977 inauguration.
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Inevitably, "esteemed" is the jargony adjective that attaches itself to groups that have been around as long as the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio, but the ensemble has the numbers to back it up. The group was founded by way of a White House performance for Jimmy Carter's 1977 inauguration.
Do all those years of playing together show? While it was true in an appearance Thursday night with the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society that the sum equaled more than the total of the parts, you might have expected a little more impact from the KLR.
Not to overstate the case, but if put to the blindfold test, I'm not sure I could have said that the sounds coming from the Perelman stage matched the potential of such a long performance history together.
Mendelssohn's Piano Trio in C minor (Op. 66) did not come without some struggle. The "Scherzo" was crisp - elfin music, as Strauss might have put it - but other movements were not as tight and, as a result, not as vividly drawn. Still, one could be grateful for violinist Jaime Laredo's warmth in the "Andante espressivo."
Laredo and guest violist Nokuthula Ngwenyama had a nice thing going on in the Dvorák Piano Quartet in E flat major (Op. 87), often passing similar material back and forth. The spirited reading gathered energy through interactions of this sort, as well as some lovely repose from cellist Sharon Robinson in the second movement.
Ngwenyama has a fascinating kind of charismatic sound. It's not huge, and yet, through a combination of focus and refinement, it has great presence. She's young, born just a few months before KLR's debut, and brought the added benefit of responding to her colleagues in subtle ways.
André Previn's 2011 Piano Trio No. 2 fell especially well on the part handled by pianist Joseph Kalichstein. Previn is a painter of moods, his portraits veering skillfully from tentative to reassuring, and just as far as slightly out of sorts. Like a dinner partner who is merely pleasant, he neither offends nor asks too much of his listener. Even so, Previn's craftsmanship is impressive, and he has an undeniable gift for conjuring atmosphere.
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