Blakemore Trio Plays Beethoven and Ravel

PROGRAM

Ludwig van Beethoven
Piano Trio in D Major, Op. 70, No. 1 “Ghost” 
1. I. Allegro vivace e con brio
2. II. Largo assai ed espressivo
3. III. Presto

Maurice Ravel
Piano Trio in A Minor 4. 
I. Modéré 
5. II. Pantoum. Assez vite
6. III. Passacaille. Très large 7. IV. Final. Animé 

ABOUT THE TRIO

Blakemore Trio is celebrating ten years of making music together with the release of this debut recording. Founding members Amy Dorfman,Carolyn Huebl, and Felix Wang, each acclaimed performers in their own right, formed the group when their artistic paths crossed at the Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt University in 2002. Since then the trio has developed a national reputation, performing on chamber series thought-out the country and making their New York debut at Merkin Hall in 2010. They have won audiences over with their expressive, dramatic and innovative performances. Critics have hailed the trio’s “all-but-perfect sense of ensemble, expressive playing, and great intonation” and described their performances as having “riveting intensity.” While this disc represents the master works of the genre, the trio’s repertoire spans the spectrum of the literature, from Beethoven, Brahms, and Ravel to Rochberg, Schnittke and Tower.

REVIEWS

American Record Guide, Sept/Oct 2013

[About the Ravel Trio] The strings bring out the lyricism of the themes. Their phrasing is complex, but they are matched perfectly by not only each other but the piano as well. The Passacaille is particularly sensitive. Moreover, the orchestral techniques Ravel employs in the strings—tremolos, trills, arpeggios, harmonics—are quite well executed here, particularly in IV. Impressionism at its best.
Also on the program is Beethoven’s Ghost Trio—an interesting pairing, as ethereal textures of a different type are on display. The Blakemore Trio demonstrates exemplary dynamic control here.

Fanfare Magazine, Sept/Oct 2013
The confident stride and commanding authority with which The Blakemore Trio delivers the opening bars of the Beethoven are all you need to hear to know that another chamber ensemble has arrived to claim the limelight. Perfect intonation, articulation, and ensemble balance and blending are further enhanced by some of the most exquisitely subtle phrasing and nuanced dynamics I’ve heard in a performance of this work; and both the acoustic properties of the Blair School’s Ingram Hall, where the recording was made in 2006, and their capture by Blue Griffin’s recording engineer and producer, Jamey Lamar, are of phenomenal presence and clarity.
The Ravel is equally exquisite in terms of execution.