Trio Ariadne in Weill Hall (N. Bell photo)

THREE TRIOS, THREE CENTURIES, ONE ADIADNE

The Ariadne Trio’s Oct. 11 Weill Hall Concert was pure delight, with performances of two staples of the chamber music repertoire and an exciting dark horse from the 20th Century. Three trios, three centuries.

In a teaching residency at Sonoma State University that includes activity in area schools, the Ariadne played a concert was their local first public performance. A large audience included many of students and from the first note electricity ripped through the hall. This trio looks and sounds like they are having the most wonderful time - passionate, playful, energetic, sensuous, with worlds of color and contrast, mood changes, melancholy, tenderness and driving jazzy rhythms. It was all there throughout the evening.

The Ariadne plays with great sensitivity to each other, their phrasing and tonal blending and contrasts bringing each line to life. There was a play going on before us, all in sound and movement.

Beethoven’s B-Flat Major Trio (Opus 11) was written in 1798 and composed for the then novel combination of clarinet, cello and piano. The first movement's passionate spirit pounces, rushes, and its playful frolic giving way to a tender and sensuous second movement where the clarinet and cello beautifully match singing vocal lines. The third movement, using an operatic aria theme well known at the time, goes through numerous variations with each exploring different musical aspects.

The concert’s second trio, Robert Muczynski's Fantasy Trio (Opus 26) from 1970, was an exciting contrast and "a bit of Americana" in the words from the stage of pianist Elizabeth Joy Roe. Its jazzy, jagged rhythms evoked Copeland and Bernstein. In the second movement, cellist Sæunn Thorsteindottir handled the plaintive melody with a perfect blending of passion, sweetness andintensity. As in the Beethoven, there were many memorable moments between clarinetist Carol McConnell and Ms. Thorsteindottir. In the third movement, the trio was in no way daunted by all the syncopations and off-beat accents. Their rhythmic precision, ensemble, abundance of color and dramatic dynamics in this virtuosic powerhouse of a piece were brought off with great panache.

Brahms’ Trio in A Minor, Opus 114, was written late in the composer’s life, when he had stopped writing music. But meeting the virtuosic clarinetist Richard Muhlfeld, who Brahms called “dear nightingale,” inspired memorable clarinet music. All the richness, lyricism, soulfulness, dark beauty and complexity of Brahms are here. Great momentum and passion characterized the first movement; the cohesion between all three instruments had an exquisite, ethereal, pure tranquility. Ms. Roe's playing had a large palette of colors, perfectly chosen rubatos, rich tone, and beautifully turned phrases that were wonderfully demonstrated in the closing third movement.

This was a concert of three brilliant musicians performing three splendid trios, all beautifully played.