Paradigm gives Brahms his due

PARADIGM TRIO, First United Methodist Church, Friday

While the two string sextets Brahms wrote have become chamber music staples, they're still not as widely performed as his other chamber works. Even less often heard are the transcriptions composer and Brahms' friend Theodor Kirchner made for piano trio. Brahms, notoriously self-critical of his music, praised them highly when he saw them. Thanks to Kirchner's meticulous attention to the nuances of Brahms' music, the transcriptions keenly capture the lyricism and drama of the originals and are musically their equals.

Two weeks ago at its previous concert, the Paradigm Trio (Kelly Parkinson, violin; Joel Rosenberg, viola; and Jed Moss, piano) played the first of the two sextets. On Friday, the threesome played the second, in G major, op. 36.

The op. 36 is one of Brahms' most lyrical works. The music exudes a quiet intensity that isn't found to this degree in too many of his other works. Kirchner's arrangement, which was transcribed for viola by Kelly Richardson, reveals this lush lyricism.

After a tenuous start, members of the trio brought a radiance to their playing that did full justice to the music. They gave an eloquent reading that was wonderfully shaded and richly expressive. Their interpretation radiated warmth and geniality.

They also brought out the dramatic tension that's found throughout the work, particularly in the scherzo (one of the most subdued scherzos Brahms wrote) as well as in the slow movement.

After five years together as the Paradigm, the three musicians play with a cohesiveness that seems almost intuitive. Their musicality and technical skills are on the same high level. They bring insight and perceptiveness to the music they play.

That was fully evident not only in the Brahms, but also in Schubert's Trio No. 1 in B flat major, op. 99, which opened the concert.

Schubert had the gift of melody that few other composers possessed. Whether in his songs or in his larger works, he brought an exuberant freshness to his music through his unpretentious melodic writing.

The music of the B flat Trio bursts forth with enthusiasm and youthful vigor. And that's how the Paradigm played it. Their interpretation captured the vitality and brightness of the score. And having a viola instead of a cello playing only enhanced the work's sunny optimism through the viola's lighter texture.

Especially notable was the slow movement, which opens with a tender duet for viola and piano. Moss and Rosenberg played this with great sensitivity. And when Parkinson entered offering the violin's sweet counterpoint to the other two instruments, the performance became subliminal.

As an encore, the trio played Astor Piazzolla's sultry tango "Oblivion." Their interpretation brought out the music's hazy otherworldliness.

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E-mail: ereichel@desnews.com