EIF: Gould Piano Trio
Old College Quad
Middle Meadow Walk is almost busy; a boater-wearing chap on a penny-farthing exchanges banter with two police officers. A muted welcome to the Edinburgh Festival 2021!
The Gould Piano Trio have been together for over 25 years, but rarely can they have had a trickier gig. A late replacement for Ronald Brautigam, unable to travel because of Covid restrictions, they are first up on the Old College Quad temporary stage. With a steel structure covered in plastic, the venue is more comfortable and has better acoustics than many feared.
Sensibly they start with the Beethoven. It takes the first movement to get themselves and the audience accustomed to the new sounds. Their dynamic, cautious at first becomes bolder as the work progresses. The lovely slow movement includes some pianissimo, and the section where the instruments play different melodic lines comes over very clearly. The Scherzo is brisk and cheerful with the strings imitating the piano, and the presto Finale requires virtuosic agility from all.
Leokayida Kashperova was a well-known pianist and composer in St Petersburg in the early 20th century. It was assumed that she stopped composing after the revolution. Then this piano trio, written between 1929 and 1940, was discovered in 2019 and given its premiere by the Gould Piano Trio last year.
There’s much to admire in the work. Kashperova demonstrates melodic inventiveness and enjoys exploiting the qualities of each instrument. In the first movement rippling notes on the piano are overlaid by legato lyrical themes in the strings. Later she contrasts pizzicato violin with cello chords on the lower strings. The Andante starts with the melody in the cello which is then picked up by the violin. I found this movement hardest to follow on first hearing. The Scherzo in contrast is punchy. A jaunty piano tune is accompanied by plucked strings, then the strings develop a slower theme based on crunchy chords. The movement ends with a bucolic dance. The Finale moves from an agitated opening to a stately melody led by the strings.
Deservedly, the work and the Gould Piano Trio’s performance were greeted enthusiastically by the audience. Kashperova’s output is worthy of further exploration Her lively Symphony in B minor conducted by Jane Glover in 2018 can be found on YouTube, and this Edinburgh Festival performance is on Radio 3 this Tuesday at 1pm, introduced by Donald Macleod.
