Flourishes. NZ Trio: Rattle CD
Sarah Watkins (piano), Justine Cormack (violin) and Ashley Brown (cello) have played together since forming this trio in 2002, and they have developed a splendid rapport. This is their third album, which features the same varied programme the group played in Dunedin last November.
It ranges from Mozart’s Piano Trio K.502, to Ravel’s Piano Trio, with contemporary works by Aarvo Part, Indonesian Wayan Yudane, and New Zealand composer Eve de Castro-Robinson. The last two wrote commissioned works for the trio.
Mozart sparkles and his ideas are explored by Part in a reconstruction of an adagio movement from a piano sonata.
The major work is the Ravel trio, which is beautifully played, apart from the second movement’s sprightly dance lagging slightly in tempo.
Highlight: Yudane’s gamelan-influenced Entering the Stream, with imitative birdcalls.
Geoff Adams – Otago Daily Times
Truly high-quality piano trio – Flourishes CD
NZTrio are a truly high-quality piano trio whose concerts are a mixture of the established classics from a rich repertoire and new music, much of which they commission themselves. But I’m not sure they always get the mix right in concert; in their eagerness to create a more progressive image they often offer a musical mish-mash. But make no mistake they are superb musicians and this new CD shows this in spades. But does a mix of Mozart, Ravel, Arvo Part and two New Zealand domiciled composers make a satisfactory release? The works by Wellington-based Indonesian composer I Wayan Gde Yudane and Aucklander Eve de Castro Robinson are both fascinating pieces, but they may find a divided market for those wanting the established classics.
Whatever, those deciding to purchase will be rewarded by superb playing and rich recording, highlighted by a stunning assumption of Ravel’s wonderful Piano Trio – a performance that would be reason enough to buy the disc.
John Button – Dominion Post, Wellington
