I heard TRIOZ just under a year ago, not long after their launch, and they have undergone a miraculous transformation. We now have genuine dialogue between the players in an atmosphere of real equality, with dynamic pianist Kathy Selby almost reinventing herself in the process.
Her old group, the Macquarie Trio, were a pretty volcanic lot and TRIOZ, with lashings of finesse, is almost the opposite.
Selby’s playing, while losing none of its brilliance, has toned down remarkably and fitted the refined styles of violinist Niki Vasilakis and cellist Julian Smiles to a tee.
Most memorable were a marvellously idiomatic performance of Dvorak’s evergreen Dumky Trio and an expansively dramatic reading of the final Allegro Molto of Schubert’s doom-laden, yet defiant Eb Trio Op.100.
A hallmark of the new TRIOZ approach is their willingness to make space within a movement for quieter reflective moments. Fire and brimstone there may be, but during the breathless pianissimi in the Dumky, time seemed to stand still as passages moved to dark contemplations from frantic activity. Similarly in the Schubert, Smiles’s handling of the two highly charged, reminiscent returns of the Funeral March theme were delivered with moving simplicity and depth.
Smiles was a ring-in for permanent cellist Emma-Jane Murphy.
If TRIOZ has been able to morph into so empathetic an ensemble with changing personnel, it will be fascinating to see what happens when Murphy returns.