2008 Woodie Awards
Vienna Piano Trio enlivens Alumnae Hall
Colin Baker
Issue date: 10/27/06 Section: Arts & Culture
The Vienna Piano Trio is the type of group you can often hear only in very crowded New York City concert halls - if you're lucky enough to get tickets.
So Brown students, faculty and Providence community members were very fortunate to hear the group this past Wednesday night in Alumnae Hall.
The trio kicked off this year's classical music series sponsored by the Rhode Island Chamber Music Concerts, a community organization that brings two groups to campus each semester.
Though the hall was more than half-full and included some students, it was composed primarily of older community members.
Classical music is often performed by aging musicians - particularly well-known masters - so this trio's youthfulness was refreshing. The pianist Stefan Mendl and the violinist Wolfgang Redik are both just nearing 40 years of age, while the cellist, Matthias Gredler, is even younger. The performers are poised at a great moment in their careers. Though professionally experienced, they exhibited a supremely fun, youthful level of excitement.
The "Piano Trio No. 43 in C," composed from 1794-95 by Franz Joseph Haydn, opened the performance, and the 200-year old piece sounded anything but stale. Haydn wrote wit into his music, and the group performed it with flawless humor. There were moments throughout the piece where the music almost smirked. Notes were held back just a quarter of a beat or less by the performers, like punch lines to glib parlor quips.
The group would share a tiny breath - if you blinked you would have missed it - but there was the indescribable satisfaction, and indeed, the slight smile, of being in on a funny joke.
After the applause for the Haydn settled, the players retuned and slipped into the opening bars of the "Piano Trio in A minor," by Maurice Ravel. Not only was the music making a 120-year leap, but it was also jumping into an entirely different palate - Paris in the early 20th century.
It only took a few bars to realize that the Austrian players could speak French too. This four-movement piece contained an expansive world of tone, as moments of incredible depth and richness, fast trills and quick darts of sound gave the performance a thoughtful, contemplative feeling that carried through from beginning to end.
So Brown students, faculty and Providence community members were very fortunate to hear the group this past Wednesday night in Alumnae Hall.
The trio kicked off this year's classical music series sponsored by the Rhode Island Chamber Music Concerts, a community organization that brings two groups to campus each semester.
Though the hall was more than half-full and included some students, it was composed primarily of older community members.
Classical music is often performed by aging musicians - particularly well-known masters - so this trio's youthfulness was refreshing. The pianist Stefan Mendl and the violinist Wolfgang Redik are both just nearing 40 years of age, while the cellist, Matthias Gredler, is even younger. The performers are poised at a great moment in their careers. Though professionally experienced, they exhibited a supremely fun, youthful level of excitement.
The "Piano Trio No. 43 in C," composed from 1794-95 by Franz Joseph Haydn, opened the performance, and the 200-year old piece sounded anything but stale. Haydn wrote wit into his music, and the group performed it with flawless humor. There were moments throughout the piece where the music almost smirked. Notes were held back just a quarter of a beat or less by the performers, like punch lines to glib parlor quips.
The group would share a tiny breath - if you blinked you would have missed it - but there was the indescribable satisfaction, and indeed, the slight smile, of being in on a funny joke.
After the applause for the Haydn settled, the players retuned and slipped into the opening bars of the "Piano Trio in A minor," by Maurice Ravel. Not only was the music making a 120-year leap, but it was also jumping into an entirely different palate - Paris in the early 20th century.
It only took a few bars to realize that the Austrian players could speak French too. This four-movement piece contained an expansive world of tone, as moments of incredible depth and richness, fast trills and quick darts of sound gave the performance a thoughtful, contemplative feeling that carried through from beginning to end.