Well drilled, attractive and thoughtful
though these performances are, they
don’t offer much challenge to the
established recordings. And in this
repertoire, whether you incline to
the integral set of the Beaux Arts
– rather suave – or the rhythmic intensity
of the complete Suk Trio, or points
in between such as the Borodin, the
Prague Trio or the good Golub-Kaplan-Carr
set, you really need a fusion of tonal
excellence and native rhythmic drama.
By native this doesn’t necessarily
mean a Czech ensemble, though when
you hear Josef Chuchro’s eloquent
cello you’d think so, so wonderfully
does he play in the Suk Trio recordings.
The Macquarie Trio
Australia is chamber ensemble-in-residence
at Macquarie University and their
ensemble is practised and excellent,
fine tuned after years of music-making.
The drawback here is a lack of phrasal
elasticity, a compound of straight
rather Germanic rhythm and restrained
lyric impress. They could be far more
rustic and unrestrained in the opening
movement of the B flat major. Piano
rhythms are not as sharply drawn as
they might be and the corporate sonority
they cultivate tends to the restrained.
The piano rhythms pale beside Jan
Panenka’s just-so playing for the
Suk Trio. The problems are acute in
Scherzos where rhythms never sound
completely natural or unforced – the
rallentando in this trio’s Allegretto
sounds overdone.
They’re not a trio
naturally inclined to indulge tempo
– good, fast tempo for the G minor
Trio’s opening for example – but its
Largo sounds emotionally inert, lacking
colour and not building to climaxes
through use of dynamic variance. Compare
this to Josef Suk’s leadership of
his trio and hear him really sculpt
the apex of the movement with inexorable
logic and tensile drama. They take
a good clip in the Scherzo but it
sounds breathless – which it shouldn’t.
The F minor receives
rather a reserved performance – straight,
attractive enough on its own terms
but rather missing the Bohemian vivacity
of the Allegretto grazioso and its
corollary, warm wit. And the Dumky
lacks timbral intensity and animated
weight, that sense of cumulative tension
that gives such life to the best readings.
This all sounds like
a litany of complaint. In many ways
the Macquarie’s readings are admirably
straight and unswayed by distractive
gesture. Technically they’re inevitably
on top of the notes and as I suggested
it’s real trio playing, not a collection
of outsize individualists failing
to conform tonally. The reticence
and rhythmic smoothness may well appeal
to some listeners bashed too many
times by trios out to make points.
But in the end I’m afraid you will
need other performances. The recording
isn’t always of the finest but the
Suk Trio offers nourishment of an
altogether more exalted level, performances
of a special authority and truthfulness.
For the set of all four you can’t
beat them.
Jonathan Woolf
Macquarie Trio Australia 
