YAKOV KASMAN, DANIEL SZASZ, WEI LIU COMBINE FOR MESMERIZING TRIOS
Michael Huebner
al.com
The Birmingham News
September 30, 2009, 12:21PM
Yakov Kasman is Associate Professor of Piano and Artist-in-Residence
at UAB. He joined Alabama Symphony musicians Daniel Szasz and Wei
Liu for a Concertmaster & Friends event Tuesday.ALABAMA SYMPHONY:
CONCERTMASTER & FRIENDS
Daniel Szasz, violinist; Wei Liu, cellist;Yakov Kasman, pianist
Tuesday, Brock Recital Hall
What began five years ago as a diversion for Alabama Symphony musicians
has turned into a high-octane showcase for virtuoso chamber music,
and word has gotten around.
On Tuesday, all but a few seats were filled for a Concertmaster and
Friends event in the 300-seat Brock Recital Hall, the area’s premier
chamber for chamber music. The audience was shuttled on a darkly
romantic journey by way of seldom-heard piano trios from Russia
and Armenia.
Unlike, say, a string quartet, which strives for equilibrium and blend,
a piano trio allows for greater individuality. And that’s exactly
how violinist Daniel Szasz, cellist Wei Liu and pianist Yakov Kasman
approached these trios by Sergei Rachmaninoff and Arno Babadjanian.
This was as much an inner journey as a musical excursion to the
composers’ homelands. Much of Rachmaninoff’s "Trio Elegiaque" No. 2
in D minor, Op. 9, is a showcase for the piano, as might be expected
from that composer. Kasman, a faculty member at UAB, was clearly
in charge, defining tempos, exaggerating dynamics and otherwise
mesmerizing listeners with his fervor.
Kasman’s flamboyance could overwhelm Szasz and Liu at times, but who
could argue with the results? This was a titanic display — polished
technique driven by furious passion. Each movement ended softly,
the audience responding with breathless silence. Liu’s sweet-toned
lyricism surfaced on several occasions, but especially so in solos
and a lengthy duet with Szasz in the second movement.
Babadjanian’s Trio in F sharp minor exposes the strings mo playing
in the Andante was answered by Liu’s probing solos, then transferred
to Kasman. The finale was a rhythmic roller coaster ride, Szasz
and Liu harmonizing in double-stops, Kasman’s infectious playing
transmitting energy.
The printed program left out the Allegro Vivace finale, but it hardly
mattered. So absorbing was the trio’s playing, looking down at the
program might have broken the spell.
With world-class performances such as this, it is worth a reminder
that these musicians live in the Birmingham area. Then again, filling
a hall with chamber music on a weeknight speaks volumes. Perhaps it’s
not so surprising to find them here.