May 7, 2010
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Chamber Trio ETA3, April 17, 2010
Like
a shooting star, the chamber trio ETA3 (named after a star-forming
nebula) exploded with three concerts in three days. No doubt when
they reached the Pittsburgh airport on Monday afternoon they were
slowing down a bit. But this talented trio playing piano, flute,
and clarinet delighted their audiences with their enthusiasm and
congeniality.The Saturday evening Guest Artist Series concert presented a program with mostly familiar composers, often with unfamiliar but delightful works. A number of pieces were originally for piano and/or orchestra and were rearranged for these three instruments by the artists. The program began with an enchanting version of Debussy’s Prelude to “The Afternoon of a Faun,” with the sweet sound of the flute dominating it. Saint-Saëns’ lively Tarantella was next, one of the pieces actually written for this combination of instruments and sounding very much like a circle dance. The dance theme continued with Bartok’s Romanian Folk Dances, which of course had a very Eastern European harmonic sound that made them pleasingly exotic.
Each of these three compositions created very vivid, almost visual, moods. The fourth piece, Khachaturian’s Trio in three movements, struck me differently: Because the Trio is so complex and long, my ear focused on the harmonics and not the mood. Written in 1931, it has elements of jazz, gypsy music, and dissonant modernity. I liked it very much, but it took patience to listen to it; I’m sure it was a challenge to play, and they carried it out just fine.
After the intermission, Tchaikovsky’s Russian Dance from the ballet “Swan Lake” featured the clarinet and the piano, and one could almost see the Cossacks. In sharp contrast, a moody and slow Jacques Ibert Aria followed. Anyone lulled into relaxation woke up instantly with the piece called “Zoom Tube”, by Ian Clarke. According to Emily Thomas, the flutist, a zoom tube is an actual child’s toy, something like a kazoo, and she played the flute in imitation of it, the weirdest sound I have ever heard on an instrument. It was windy and wild and certainly original. Right in the middle of the piece she threw up her hands and yelled “Wow”, and I couldn’t agree more. She got smiles in the middle and a huge round of applause at the end.
The last work on the program brought us back to the conventionally and gracefully musical with Bellini’s “La Sonnambula” Fantasy. In English, it means the sleepwalker, and it’s based on an opera of the same name. The piano had long and dramatic solo parts, interspersed with duets between the flute and the clarinet. We could enjoy listening to each of these terrific musicians alone, which was a treat. The encore, a lyrical arrangement of Scarborough Fair, was a beautiful end note.
Very early Monday morning (after having driven round trip to West Virginia for a second concert), the trio performed before the fourth graders at Bedford Elementary in a concert that music director Jennifer Hillenbrand told me was probably the best concert ever to come to the school. I’m sure Emily played Zoom Tube for them, because we urged her to, and that surely woke them up. The trio is experienced in musical education—on top of all their other talents—and we are grateful to the Community Foundation for the Alleghenies for providing a grant that helped support the school concert. The Saturday evening concert was co-sponsored by Gateway Travel Plaza and Manning and Marcia Feinleib/Harry and Pam Jones.
Nancy MacRae, Schellsburg.