In the second of four weekly recitals built around the members of the Irish Piano Trio (Michael d'Arcy, violin, Annette Cleary, cello, Dearbhla Collins, piano) the two trios performed were preceded by Dvorak's Sonatina for violin and piano, originally written for his children, aged 10 and 15, to play. The audience at the RDS on Monday contained no children but the adults were charmed by the composer's juggling with snatches of Czech folk songs - that's what it sounded like - and the unstressful harmonies. The interpretation by d'Arcy and Collins was not in the least childlike, but sophisticated in its nuancing of the ostensibly simple music. Dvorak would have appreciated their approach.
Ian Wilson's piano trio Maid quand elle sourit has the sort of title that leads to speculation. "But when she smiles" should be followed by some such expression, in French or English, as "her face is transfigured". However, there was no corresponding moment in the music that I could detect. It was on the whole a moody piece which became quieter in its second half. The overlapping scalar passages which opened and closed the work gave an impression of aimless bustle but not much else; the lyrical moments when the violin seemed to be building a melody for itself, over a drone in the cello with gentle punctuation from the piano, were far more persuasive in their union of line and harmony.
Dvorak's Trio Op. 90 (Dumky) is a much deeper and more complex work than the Sonatina, but it shares a sort of innocence, at any rate to the perceptions of the year 1999. The sudden transitions from grave to gay seem symptomatic of a youthful volatility, and the instrumentalists swung with great naturalness from one mood to another. Others might have emphasised the plaintiveness; they chose a more balanced approach.
