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CHOPIN: Piano Trio in G minor, Op.8
MENDELSSOHN: Piano Trio No.2, Op.66
Saguaro Trio
http://maximaltd.com/saguarotrio/bio.htm
Luanne Homzy, Violin
Karen Kang, Cello
John Chen, Piano
Bennett-Gordon Hall
Ravinia Festival
VI.30.2010 (Chopin), VII.11.2010
256 kbs mp3 (no re-encoding)
Judging by these superlatively recorded, live and unedited performances the Saguaro Trio must be one of the finest ensembles before the public today - and not just among the young generation of performers. A special treat for me was the playing of the pianist John Chen who won the Gold Medal at the 2004 Sydney International Piano Competition. As I listened to the Mendelssohn trio I thought that Chen was blending too much with the string players and I wished his playing were a bit more assertive. Then I listened to the Chopin trio and realized that Chen's deferential playing in the Mendelssohn piece was not at all a matter of his musical personality. Perhaps it was simply Chen's way of acknowledging that although Mendelssohn keeps the piano busy, he does not give it all that much to say. In any case, in the Chopin trio Chen came forth with such luminous, glowing tone, and with phrasing so pure and inevitable that I had to listen to the entire piece once again right away - just to make sure I was not imagining things. (Chen is reportedly very passionate about French music, and he recorded the complete piano works of Dutilleux for Naxos.)
My piano buff gushing aside, it is the ensemble, of course, that impressed me deeply. Their playing in these recordings, while technically immaculate and tonally refined, does not at all sound over-rehearsed or self-conscious (as it occasionally happens with chamber ensembles striving for technical perfection and tonal refinement).
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