The Amelia Piano Trio appeared young and hip and brought an unexpected sound to Viennese chamber music Friday night in Crowell Concert Hall. Titled “A Night in Vienna,” the performance featured pieces composed by Mozart, Schoenberg and Franz Schubert played with a fresh, inspired attitude.
Anthea Kreston, violinist, gave a brief preface to the performance by introducing the trio members and quickly talking about the historical context of the pieces in the performance. Mozart is rumored to have written the first piece in the performance in one weekend to pay off a gambling debt. Kreston continued to explain why she and the other members of the Amelia Piano Trio chose to perform the specific works of the featured composers.
“What ties the unique personal styles of these composers together is melody,” Kreston said.
With or without the complementary selections they played, members of the Amelia Piano Trio’s authority and command of their instruments was apparent. Kreston and fellow member Jason Duckles, cellist, have played together for six years. Pianist Rieko Aizawa has officially been with Kreston and Duckles only since July of 2004.
Their shared creative talents have put them at the forefront of emerging young classical musicians, and their awards reflect this prestige. The group has received the grand prize at the Yellow Springs National Competition, and the award for Adventurous Programming from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. In addition to this, the group has commissioned music from composer John Harbison, winner of the 1987 Pulitzer Prize.
“A Night in Vienna” follows the trio’s line of themed, unique projects. Their “East Meets West” project included two renowned Chinese musicians, Betti Xiang (fiddle) and Yang Wei (Chinese lute). The group, temporarily forming a quintet, was received as a breath of fresh air in the classical music scene and imaginative in its approach to the classic pieces.
The Amelia Piano Trio’s energy showed in Friday’s performance with its reading and interpretation of Dehmel’s poem “Verklarte Nacht.” The poem tells of a woman revealing to her lover her pregnancy, and the secret that the child is not his. By the end, the woman confesses all and is embraced and forgiven by her lover, who tells her, “You have brought the glow into me/ You have made me like a child myself.”
“In ‘Verklarte Nacht’ the poem and music were very moving,” said Jessica Kellar ’08. “The musicians displayed a lot of virtuosity and their ability to communicate with and listen to each other was impressive.”
The mournful uncertainty leading up to this happy ending was translated musically by the trio.
“Even in the faster movements they managed to stay together and unite their playing,” said Anne Marie Fowler, visiting from Rehoboth, Mass. “You would expect [the unity] to get disrupted at some point, but they are professionals. They did not falter.”
The group’s dynamic seemed one of thorough unity. The rich tonal quality of the strings was intensified by Aizawa’s delicate and precise piano playing. True to the traditional description of chamber music, members of the trio used their intrinsic and developed talent to stay in tight harmony with each other and explore the conversation between their instruments.
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