Trio perfect for sublime ideas on a grand scale

PARADIGM TRIO, First United Methodist Church, Monday.

The piano-trio literature is rife with some of the undisputed masterpieces in the chamber repertoire. Just think of the Brahms trios, or those by Schubert or Dvorak — there aren't many other works as transcendent as these.

Composers seem to have found the medium perfectly suited to express some of their most sublime ideas, often on a grand scale. The Brahms B major Trio and Dvorak's "Dumky" Trio are certainly symphonic in structure and thematic development.

That two string instruments together with a piano can create a near perfect medium is attested to by the fact that nothing is lost when the cello is replaced by a viola, as is the case with the Paradigm Trio. If anything, greater clarity in phrasings and articulation is achieved by the somewhat lighter-toned viola, rather than the richer-sounding cello.

The Paradigm Trio gave its first concert of the season Monday evening in its new permanent home in downtown's First United Methodist Church. The concert was a benefit for Utahns Against Hunger, a charity that the Paradigm Concert Series has frequently aided.

There was a temporary change in the trio. Replacing co-founder Jed Moss on piano was Barbara Allen, making her first appearance with trio regulars Kelly Parkinson on violin and Joel Rosenberg on viola.

The three played wonderfully as an ensemble. It was a remarkable collaborative effort, one that belied the fact that this was a debut performance. They played off one another well, achieving a balance that was, with a few minor exceptions, clean and articulate.

The threesome opened the concert with one of the most compelling works in the piano trio repertoire, Beethoven's formidable Trio in B flat major, op. 97, known as the "Archduke." The captivating performance captured the magnificence of the expansive thematic material in each of the work's four movements. The expressive playing explored the subtleties of the music, giving the reading nuance and color. It was only in the scherzo that the three sounded a little tentative; their interpretation was timid and lacked resolve.

The other major work at Monday's concert was Mendelssohn's Trio No. 1 in D minor, op. 47. Mendelssohn rivaled Schubert in melodic inventiveness, and in the freshness and spontaneity of his ideas. And this trio is definitely one of his more overwhelmingly melodic works, even where — as in the opening movement — Mendelssohn writes some of his most intensely impassioned music.

The three played the work as befit the music — they brought out its delightful lyricism with their luminous performance. It was only in the slow movement that the fluidity of the music was occasionally disrupted by Allen's somewhat harsh playing.

On the program as well were two pieces by Astor Piazzolla — the luscious "Oblivion" and the willowy "Autumn" movement from "The Seasons." There was also an encore, a stunningly evocative arrangement of Debussy's song "Il pleure dans mon coeur."

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E-mail: ereichel@desnews.com