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Trio Leaves Audience at Loss for Adjectives
By JACK DONOGHUE for the
Holdrege Citizen, NE,
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
The words superlative and spectacular come to mind, but there are either way to many adjectives or not nearly enough to describe the Scarborough Trio.
Flutist Erin Lesser, pianist Tom Cuffari, and bassoonist Gina Valvano held forth at the Tassel Monday night before an enthusiastic audience in a Tassel Performing Arts Series concert.
Concert-goers were so taken with the dynamic trio, that words they couldn't find they translated into applause at any moment, including the generally quiet ones between movements.
From Saint-Saens' frenetic "Tarantella" to Bizet's fiery "Carmen" finale, the program was ambitious. The selections reflected a wide musical spectrum and gave each player ample opportunity to display their talents individually and en masse. The bassoon, flute and piano were right in stride and at the moment on every turn from frantic to dramatic to melancholy to playful.
Beyond Bizet and Saint-Saens, the bill-of-fare included Poulenc, Martinu, Piazzolla and Turina. Some of the works were more melodically friendly, but all included plenty of open international range for exploration.
The showstopper "Carmen" fantasy was something to behold but impossible to describe. Those on hand Monday gave the gymnastically-technical bravura work a 10 - no, make that an 11 - on the audience Richter Scale and a standing ovation.
A soulful "Danny Boy" encore was the perfect endpiece for a perfect evening.
Wait a minute. Perfect. There's another adjective. But I just know there are more.
Unique Trio makes delightful music
By JOSEPH YOUNGBLOOD, Special To The Palm Beach Daily News,
Friday, February 24, 2006
An unusual group of instruments playing music by composers whose names rarely appear on concert programs produced a most satisfying concert Wednesday evening. Appearing on the Young Artists Series at the Rinker Playhouse, the Scarborough Trio — flutist Erin Lesser, bassoonist Gina Valvano, and pianist Thomas Cuffari — played music by Kuhlau, Lindquist, Goossens, Chaminade and Borne. None of the pieces was written for the combination of flute, bassoon and piano; however, everything sounded perfectly natural and appropriate.
The individual members of the Trio are virtuoso players, and together they play with precise ensemble, even balance and sensitive phrasing. Lesser used many different sounds on the flute: fast passage work, warm lower tones, bent notes. Valvano's sound is by turns sensuous, lyric and fast moving. Cuffari has a very fluid technique. Several of the piano parts are very difficult, and he executed them with apparent ease. The concert opened with Trio in G, Op. 119, by Friedrich Kuhlau. The piano was on the short stick, and the instruments were all in balance. The piano writing is suggestive of Mendelssohn. Especially impressive was the third movement, a whirlwind scamper for all the instruments.
Groundings, by 35-year-old Ellen Lindquist, followed. This work was originally scored for saxophone, cello and piano. Lesser played the rich alto flute and Cuffari plucked the strings of the piano. This is a pointillistic piece in which the winds play mostly sustained notes while the piano plays harsh ostinatos and tone clusters. Some echoes of early Stravinsky are apparent.
The first half of the program ended with Five Impressions of a Holiday by Eugene Goossens, a work originally for flute, cello and piano. The French orientation is unmistakable. Both "The Water Wheel" and "The Village Church" movements are descriptive, the piano imitating the turning wheel and the church bells.
The second half of the program opened with Cécile Chaminade's Trio in G Minor, Op. 11, originally scored for violin, cello and piano. This exciting and impassioned piece was a real surprise, considering that Chaminade's music is almost totally unknown today. Though the work is extremely lyric, it also employs larger forms with success. It is a real showcase for the piano; the pianistic style is reminiscent of St. Saens. Particularly impressive was the final movement, in which extreme virtuosity is demanded of all three players.
The program concluded with Francois Borne's Carmen' Fantasy. Though composed for flute and piano, the members of the Trio devised a devilish bassoon part. Both the flute and the bassoon have a virtuosic variation on "Habanera." The Scarborough Trio brought us delightful music played with great artistry. The combination of flute, bassoon and piano is never going to edge out violin, cello and piano, for instance, as a concert favorite. However, the Scarborough Trio demonstrated that such an ensemble has a legitimate place in the concert hall and on our programs.
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