THE NAVARRO PLAYS TWO B'S AT SSU

A nearly-full Ives Hall greeted Sonoma State’s resident Trio Navarro October 12, and demonstrated contemporary concert demographics. Who actually comes to programs nowadays? Two-thirds of attendees were students who must attend ten concerts as a course requirement - Music 251? The remainder, except for one family with two youngsters in attendance, were largely senior citizens who seem to be this ensemble’s posse. The absence of those between the age of college students and retirees should be a concern to all involved in presenting classical concerts. Our audience is fast disappearing, and there is little being done to reverse this trend in our school systems. Indeed, there seemed to be little publicity for this program. Doesn’t the university administration realize faculty ensembles can inspire potential students to want to attend Sonoma State?

The audience warmly commended the ensemble - pianist Marilyn Thompson, cellist Jill Rachuy Brindel, and guest violinist Mariko Smiley - for bringing the rarely performed Piano Trio in C Minor, Opus 5, by Max Bruch to a local stage. Born in 1838, Bruch worked on this trio from 1853 to 1857 while a student in Cologne, and the premiere, with Bruch at the piano, occurred when the composer was 19. So, what does a teen prodigy compose for himself? Bravura stuff. Virtuosic material. Rampant pianism. A showpiece! It is curious how so exceptional a pianist, as evidenced by Bruch’s piano writing in his chamber works, wrote so little solo piano material, about nine opuses, but really pulled out all stops in his ensemble work. However, the lid of the piano was at low mast, and the strings occasionally overshadowed the piano, and much of the interplay between the hands and amongst the three instruments was missing. Shostakovich once wrote a short article stating that the lid of a concert piano should always be fully open.

The Trio announced this was their first performance of the Bruch and frequently it did sound that way. This does not imply the Navarro sight-read the work. Nevertheless, the Bruch demands more time to become familiar with its peculiarities and idioms; and, considering the demanding schedule this ensemble has (another three full-length programs this season) there was little time to allow it to mature. For example, Opus 5’s first movement opens pianissimo with thick, widespread (often seven note) chords under delicate string lines. The piano’s bass, written below the cello line, designates the cello to act as the tenor voice, and much of the contrapuntal interest was lost. Later in the movement there are double and single dotted rhythms, some with sixteenth and some with dotted sixteenth rests. To make the passage even more challenging, some of the dotted rhythms have no rests at all. In the second movement, the hemiolae were less than obvious. In the third movement, there are groupings of four eighth notes in the piano part. These came across as one, two, three, four. However, in this style, two, three, four, one makes more sense. We musicians are often prisoners of the bar line and the beam! To make a long analysis short, a mature rendition of this work would be an enticing prospect, and the Trio Navarro will present it in due time.

The second half of the program was taken up with a single work, Beethoven’s Piano Trio in B Flat Major, Op. 97. This four-movement work was elegantly performed, perhaps because the Navarro has done it many times. It was smooth, fluid and carefully balanced. At the start, Brindel related erudite comments on the score and its creation. Most interesting was Beethoven’s paean to Chopin, demonstrated by Thompson at the keyboard. Chopin in later years returned the favor with his Nocturne in C Sharp Minor, Opus 27, No 1. It has the same opus number, the same key, and the same meter - 12/8 - as Beethoven’s Opus 27, No. 2, the “Moonlight” Sonata.

After the first movement, the piano lid was raised, eliminating a pesky internal noise. The instrument, an older Steinway, would benefit from a rebuilder’s hand, and appears to come from the same era as Horowitz’s “Betsy.” In the subsequent movements, Thompson produced elegant, bell-like tones. The “Archduke” is a compelling work, demanding the highest musicianship, and Smiley’s poised and dramatic violin playing was exemplary. Substituting for the Navarro’s regular first chair, Roy Malan, could not have been easy, but the results with her rich sound were conclusive. The Navarro is a cohesive Trio, at the top of their game, and the Bonn master’s great work was powerfully conveyed throughout.