The Paris Piano Trio returns
|
|
SUBMITTED PHOTO |
Toolbox
By Jim Lowe Times Argus Staff - Published: November 6, 2009
When I was driving to the office on Monday, listening to WCVT-FM, as I always do, my attention was arrested by some incredibly beautiful violin playing in a Boccherini flute quintet. The violin wasn't drawing attention to itself; rather, it was just beautiful – the sound, the phrasing and the musicality.
It really wasn't a big surprise when it turned out to be Regis Pasquier, the violinist of the Paris Piano Trio. Which goes a long way in explaining why the annual visits of this veteran chamber ensemble are anticipated with such excitement – and sold-out houses.
The Paris Piano Trio is returning on Saturday, Nov. 14, at 7:30 p.m., to the Montpelier Unitarian Church, presented by Capital City Concerts. Pianist Jean-Claude Pennetier, Pasquier and cellist Roland Pidoux will perform Mozart's Trio in E Major, K. 542; Shostakovich's Trio in e minor, Op. 67; and Schubert's Trio in B-flat Major, Op. 99, D. 898.
The trio's success is based quite simply on excellence, an excellence that is appreciated by the expert, as well as newcomers to classical music. The three began playing together in their early teens as students at the revered Paris Conservatory (where all three now teach). They are now in their early 60s, each with solo careers and at the height of their abilities, and they continue to perform and record together.
This year's program is one of "war horses," major works in the piano trio repertoire. If this were any other trio, it might be objectionable that the program includes nothing new. But, in this case, the program offers an opportunity to hear these masterpieces played by the best.
Why these world-traveling musicians keep coming to tiny Vermont isn't entirely a mystery. First, their North American manager is Mel Kaplan, a former New York manager now located in Burlington and executive director of the Vermont Mozart Festival. And secondly, what a member of the trio told a recent Montpelier audience: "You are a wonderful audience!"
Pennetier is not only a most successful concert pianist, he is a composer and conductor. Beginning his piano studies at 3 and a half, he entered the Paris Conservatory at 6, winning first prizes in piano, chamber music and theory at 10. He went on to take the First Prize Gabriel Fauré at 18, first prize in the Montréal International Competition at 23 and first prize in the Geneva International Competition at 25.
At the age of 30, Pennetier interrupted his piano career to pursue composing and conducting and to expand and deepen his repertoire. He explored musical theater and contemporary music, wrote operas for children and award-winning film scores. In recent seasons, Pennetier has toured and performed with many European orchestras, including the Orchestre de Paris. Recent recital appearances throughout Europe have included Paris, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Munich and Copenhagen. (Pennetier returns to Capital City Concerts in a solo program of Fauré, Chopin and Debussy, plus the Poulenc Sonata with flutist Karen Kevra, artistic director of the series, on Feb. 13, 2010.)
Pasquier was much older than Pennetier when he earned his first prize for violin and chamber music at the Paris Conservatory, 12. Two years later he went to the United States to give a recital in New York. That same year he met and began studies with the great French violinist Zino Francescatti. Later, he was to tour with Francescatti, performing and finally recording Bach's Concerto for two violins. Pasquier has performed as soloist in Japan, Europe, Canada, South America and in the United States, with all the greatest orchestras. His violin is a rare Guarnerius "del Gesu" (Cremona, 1734), rivaling any Stradivarius.
Pasquier comes from a well-known French family of string players. His uncle, a cellist, performed the premiere of Messiaen's "Quartet for the End of Time" in a German prison camp during World War II. Vermont's Moyse family, co-founders of Marlboro Music Festival, performed with the Pasquiers in Europe before moving here in 1949. Pasquier first came to Vermont nearly 20 years ago as part of his Pasquier Trio, with his brother Bruno on viola and Pidoux, performing Mozart's Divertimento, K. 563, for the Vermont Mozart Festival.
Pidoux, soon after completing his studies with the great Spanish cellist André Navarra, founded, with Jean-Pierre Wallez, the Ensemble Instrumental de France. He has been a member of the Quatour Via Nova and the Trio Pasquier, and has performed and recorded with Isaac Stern, Pierre Fournier, Mistislav Rostropovich and Jean-Pierre Rampal. Previously a member of the Orchestre de l'Opéra de Paris, he has been principal cellist with the Orchestre National de France under Lorin Maazel.
The Paris Piano Trio, though, is more than the sum of its parts. The three play as one, rivaling the world's best string quartets for ensemble quality and intimacy. The result is a power and beauty of execution that rivals or bests any ensemble performing today – or anytime.
jim.lowe@timesargus.com