...But the most memorable thing on the programme was Crosse's trio, originally written in the 1990s (now revised), haunted by ghosts of Britten, Shostakovich, and Stravinskyan dance music (distantly recalled in sepulchral slow-motion) but ultimately of itself. And irresistibly beautiful as played here by the young, all-female Lawson Trio....
Michael White, The Telegraph
PLG Southbank Centre
...In both pieces [Turnage and Muhly] the Lawsons showed intelligence and knitted well together..... [The Gordon Crosse Trio] was played with far greater feeling and lovely touches.
Neil Fisher, The Times
Four-Star Review
PLG Southbank Centre
Typically, the Lawson Trio's grip on the music's challenges was firm and persuasive.
Andrew Morris, The Classical Source
PLG Southbank Centre
....Intelligence, natural rhetoric and breathing - that was a standout tonight, especially in the Beethoven.......
....I love these girls - I just warm to them, especially in the Brahms. There's great spirit here - they're a great group, beautiful players...
....I really enjoyed their performance very much. I thought the Rawsthorne was really convincing. They did a terrific job of it - totally convincing and very committed. I thought they brought it off really well.....
....The applause says it all doesn't it - the foot stomping at the South Melbourne Town Hall - how much the audience adored the performance.....
Howard Penny, Keith Crellin and Wilma Smith, ABC Classic FM, Australia
Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition
What a vintage year 2011 has turned out to be for the Stratford Chamber Music Society, and how splendidly the 2011/12 season has begun, featuring the gifted and experienced pianist Martin Roscoe, the PIatti String Quartet and now, last Sunday at Mason Croft, the youthful Lawson Trio with a programme of largely unfamiliar pieces by Beethoven, Alan Rawsthorne and Antonin Dvorak.
All three performers, Annabelle Lawson (piano), Fenella Humphreys (violin) and Rebecca Knight (cello), have at this early stage of their careers an impressive record of achievement, on the concert platform, in master classes and in competition. Sunday's programme, a demanding one requiring virtuosity and meticulous co-ordination, was carried off with appropriate exuberance and style.
Beethoven's 'Piano Trio in E flat major' is characterised by shifts of dramatic emphasis and dynamic contrast that the performers brought out vivdly. But vigour was not all. There was wit here, and where the music led to tenderness that was evoked too.
If Beethoven repeatedly surprises, Rawsthorne is no less remarkable for unexpected shifts from sustained arcs of sound to cascades of notes, from lyricism to dissonance, and from subdued to near-frenetic rhythms and dynamics. His 'Piano Trio' (1962) demands both unflagging attention to detail and intensity of emotion. The Lawson Trio brought both qualities splendidly to bear.
Dvorak's 'Dumky Trio in E minor, op. 90', accords with the evening's other compositions by highlighting music's capacity to juxtapose contrasting sound-patterns.
Dvorak bends echoes of the Czech folk violin, evoking communal harmony, with passages of emotional and dynamic intensity that invite, and received, rich and full-blooded expression.
This was an evening to relish, vivacious, skillled and emotionally engaged.
Ronnie Mulryne
Stratford-upon-Avon Herald
...A recital notable for an involving account of Brahms' youthful first piano trio, in the shortened version which Clara Schumann urged the composer to make and publish some forty years later. It was remarkable for the close ensemble and acute listening of each to the others, Annabelle Lawson finding an ideal touch and discretion with the pedal on the Blackheath Bösendorfer, at which piano soloists are often found wanting. Cellist Rebecca Knight in an ideally pitched commentary gave us the background stories of its composition and revision, contrasting those with the happy and apparently carefree Mozart trio, actually composed in dire circumstances....
Peter Grahame Woolf, Musical Pointers
Blackheath Halls
....The Lawson gave just the right degree of emphasis to the to the changes of mood in each of the movements [Rawsthorne Trio] in an immaculately prepared performance. Ensemble and intonation were excellent, and the balance near perfect.....The same might also be said of their reading of Schubert’s mighty Piano Trio in B flat. There was an attractive freshness to their performance coupled with a warm lyrical sound and well judged tempi....
Frank Cliff, East Anglian Daily Times
Aldeburgh Residency recital
....extreme clarity of interpretation and depth of preparation characterise their performances, whether the music is old or new; and their individual technical skills allow them to inhabit the piano trio repertoire from Haydn onwards, with an ease and enjoyment which is instantly communicated to audiences....
Judith Weir, composer
....finely played by the Lawson Trio....
Stephen Walsh, the Arts Desk
Bath Festival concert of Judith Weir
....the Lawson Trio - joined by violist Rebecca Jones - traced folk tunes and narrative inflections with clearly defined lines....
Rhian Evans, The Guardian
Bath Festival concert of Judith Weir
The Lawson Piano Trio were altogether more conventional in their programming, but for intensity and audience communication they would be hard to better. They even made sense of Schumann’s G minor trio, which is none too easy to bring off.
Concerts in the West, season review
....in my opinion the Lawsons are one of the most exciting groups to emerge in this country over the last few years. They possess that rare combination of individual instrumental virtuosity and polished collective synergy and I am certain that they have a brilliant career in front of them..... remarkable not just for the excellent standard of playing, but also for the imagination and daring of their programmes.... to say that I find their performances to be consistently outstanding would be an understatement; for in years to come one could well imagine that theirs will be the standard by which others will be measured.
Dr. Camden Reeves, lecturer in musical composition, University of Manchester
The Lawson Trio ... are excellent players who show a real commitment to playing chamber music at the highest level, and to the performance and appreciation of contemporary music.
William Howard, pianist of the Schubert Ensemble of London and founder of chamber music 2000
Thank you so much for last night's wonderful concert. So many people in the audience said how amazed they were by the standard of your playing. I also thought your speaking was quite the best delivery to the audience we have had!
Peter McCarthy, Music in the Village
Your performance of Goldschmidt's Piano Trio was outstanding - certainly the best that I have heard.....You were the first trio to take the trouble to analyse and understand the music.
Bernard Keefe, musicologist and Goldschmidt specialist
Thank you for the marvellous performance by you and your splendid colleagues of my husband's youthful piano trio. It was a beautiful and thoughtful interpretation, with true depth and understanding..... you brilliantly caught the high spirits and the delight in music-making which is present in the score of the work. It was a sparkling and lovely interpretation.
Lady Camilla Panufnik, on late husband Andrez Panufnik's trio op. 1
Thank you so much for playing last Friday. Everyone enjoyed your Mozart and Suk and I heard so many compliments afterwards. The whole evening was a great success and much appreciated by the Governor and his wife..... We will follow your career with interest and hope to hear you soon again.
Dr. Andreas Prindl CBE, Pastmaster of the Worshipful Company of Musicians
The Lawson Trio closed the thirty-third season of lunchtime music at St. John's Church, Greenhill, in style. The highly experienced musicians opened with the Trio in D major, Op. 70, No. 1, Ghost, by Ludwig van Beethoven.
They gave a highly professional account of this work, particularly in the mesmerising second movement, where their expressive playing and expertise with their long-line phrases were particularly evident.
Humphreys' assured, musical playing and leading was perfectly complemented by Knight's warm tone and Lawson's sensitivity.
Vlad Bourceanu, Harrow Observer
Can I thank you on behalf of everyone here for the truly excellent performance of Shostokovich's Piano Trio last Friday. It made for a very fitting and reflective ending to a full and exceptionally informative day..... You sounded superb: a really passionate performance..... I hope we shall have the opportunity of having you play here again some time.
Suzanne Bardgett, Holocaust Exhibition project director, Imperial War Museum
[The] Haydn trio soon revealed the musical ability and verve which was sustained throughout the evening. It also revealed the empathy of the perfomers with each other, with the audience and with Haydn..... The Shostakovich was the outstanding performance of the evening. The contrast of conflicting emotions was wonderfully evoked by these accomplished young musicians. I believe that they have a promising future.
New Milton Advertiser, recital for Brockenhurst Music Society
The commitment to and understanding of the music was stunning. I'd not heard the Goldschmidt trio and was fascinated with the Schreker-like sounds in the first section, while the Dumky was probably the best performance I've heard.
Colin Bayliss, composer, Da Capo Music ltd |
|
