A thoroughly absorbing concert by a trio renowned world wide suddenly transported me into another realm by one movement.
It was unexpected and utterly memorable.
The movement was the Scherzo – the third of four movements – of Mendel-ssohn’s Piano Trio No 1 in D minor.
It was played with scintillating panache and, where needed, a gauziness.
It is a movement where the piano reigns supreme, and Stefan Mendl had the touch and the musicianship for the occasion.
Not that that takes anything away from his colleagues, Matthias Gredler, playing a 1752 cello by J B Guadagnini and violinist Bogdan Bozovic, using a loaned instrument by Antonio Stradivari dating from 1685.
Even a broken cello string, which caused a halt while it was replaced and the re-starting of the scherzo, did nothing to spoil this breathless performance.
Sandwiched between this Mendelssohn and Beet-hoven’s Piano Trio in D, the Ghost, with its huge dynamics, was a fascinating Kammersonate by Hans Werner Henze dating from 1948 which had intriguing cascading octaves from strings and piano.
There was a jaunty contrapuntal lilt which made me wonder how well Mendl would play jazz.
Brilliantly, I have little doubt.
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