The Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio at Tanglewood, July 15, 2010

Reviewed by Bill Breakstone, Somers, NY

There are many fine piano trios performing these days, but none is more accomplished than this K-L-R threesome. For their Tanglewood evening, they put together an engaging grouping of three trios, a seldom performed but masterful one by Haydn, and two masterpieces of the trio literature, Shostakovich’s Trio No. 2 in E Minor, Op. 67; and Mendelssohn’s Trio No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 66.
The Haydn dates, of course, from the classical period, when most composers chose to duplicate the trio idea in terms of number of instrumentalists on the one hand, with the number of movements in the works, namely three. Some of Beethoven’s early piano trios included a fourth movement, but his mature ones reverted back to three.
This Haydn Trio includes a rather long opening movement, with an extended development section that is the equal of anything Mozart wrote in this form. A brief and lyrical adagio second movement is followed by a sprightly Rondo: Presto, a finger-snapping delight.
The Shostakovich is a wonder of a work, the eerie introduction of the first movement, in the highest string register, gradually developing in the “Allegro energico e con fuoco”, an apt description of this most serious movement. The second movement “Allegro non troppo”, truly a scherzo, is fiendishly difficult, even its trio section unrelenting in both pace and demands placed on the performers. The third movement “Largo”, a passacaglia, is dark and severe; the final “Allegretto—Adagio” is in Sonata-Rondo form, and mixes Bohemian and Russian harmonies and rhythms in what has sometimes been called the “Jewish” part of the trio. In my opinion, this tag is unwarranted. What Shostakovich’s religious background and beliefs were are vague at best. Grove’s has absolutely nothing to say on the subject. What some describe as “Jewish” to me is nothing more than Slavic, as in Bohemian, versus Russian. In any case, the contrasts make for exciting music. I have heard this work performed many times, and this performance was as good as any.
The concert closed with the Mendelssohn, a wondrous work throughout that closes with an “Allegro appassionato” that remains one of the great movements of the chamber repertoire. How can one not be moved by the two beautiful themes, the second of which melds perfectly with that Bach chorale that Mendelssohn makes so natural in its placement and connection to that second theme. Again, the performance was brilliant, a perfect combination of lyrical playing and perfect execution. There were quite a few famous instrumentalists in the audience—Yo Yo Ma and Emanuel Ax among them—and they were all smiles backstage afterwards. The performers themselves were exhausted, but totally happy with their evening’s challenging work.