Profile | Reviews
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Kungsbacka piano trio at Presteigne Festival
"A familiar figure at the Presteigne Festival, Joe Duddell is this year’s composer-in-residence, with performances of six works during the last few days. Monday saw the world premiere of his latest, Nightswimming, for piano trio.
The title is borrowed from a 1992 song by the rock band R.E.M., although Duddell doesn’t make it clear if his music is based on the song...."
"The splendid Kungsbacka Trio certainly entered into the spirit of the piece: pianist Simon Crawford-Phillips mustered a wealth of meaning from his endless broken chords, while violinist Malin Broman and cellist Jesper Svedberg gave expressive depth and breadth..."
"..Beethoven’s Kakadu Variations, with Crawford-Phillips’ fully nourished tone matched by the creamy sensitivity of his string colleagues, showed perfectly (others please note) how to make a trite tune into something delightfully entertaining, but it was their immaculately shaped reading of Schubert’s joyous Piano Trio in B flat, D898 that brought the best out of these fine players, with smiling phrases, lyrical wistfulness and gutsy freshness present in full measure. A lovely interpretation and delicious performance.
David Hart
The Birmingham Post - 27 August 2008
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An evening of intimate secrets and affection
"Chamber Music NZ's concerts are consistently excellent, fine ensemble playing, good balance and accurate intonation being axiomatic, but even so there was something special about this concert.
It seemed less a formal occasion than a congenial evening of musicmaking by friends, thoroughly comfortable with each other, who wanted to share with the audience the intimate secrets of music they loved playing.
The 'Archduke' trio, which opened the programme, was not Beethoven in the grand manner but a sprightly, affectionate performance in which meticulous attention to detail and nuance, including miraculously accurate staccato playing, was carried off with a wondrous lightness of spirit.
Gareth Farr's Ahi is firmly established in the New Zealand repertoire but no one has ever played it as well as this. There were hints in the Beethoven that the trio had lots of power in reserve if needed and this came to the fore in the relentless driving rhythms of the Shostakovich-like second movement. The piece is bound together by a delicately beautiful melody with the flavour of a French lullaby, according to the composer, and the Kungsbacka Trio lavished as much affection on to it as the mainstream works on the programme.
There was abundant strength also in Brahms' Piano Trio
No 2 and the playing throughout revealed a transparency of texture not always heard in this composer. The sheer range of colour, mood and dynamic was a revelation, from the muscularity of the opening movement through to the boisterous high spirits of the last.
This performance was the essence of chamber music, just about as good as it gets. It will be a surprise if any concert this season equals this one. It was one of those rare occasions when you leave an auditorium feeling the world is a better place than when you entered.
The Dominion Post - 10 September, 07
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Trio wins with warmth
"Chamber Music New Zealand has over the years brought some fine acts to Christchurch. Many of them have been from the tungsten-tipped school of European chamber music, where the sound is perfect, the ensemble flawless, the scholarship dazzling, yet the listener remains unmoved.
The Kungsbacka Trio ... could well have delivered something similar, being three youngish musicians from that same European tradition. Yet somehow they played with that little extra something, warmth or humanity or what you will, that is the sign of real class.
Maybe it was their opening remarks ... maybe the simple apology for a trivial confusion over the timing of the interval helped, and maybe it was the choice of repertoire, but you did feel you were listening to three real people.
But of course it was really the quality of their playing that did the trick, the assurance of their performance allowing us to trust them to get to the heart of the music.
The opening of the Archduke was bewitching, with a feather-light touch maintained throughout the movement. The andante was indeed like a prayer, soaring and ecstatic. Gareth Farr's Ahi was good to hear – I wonder how many composers can make a piano trio sound like a percussion instrument.
Brahms's second piano trio, Opus 86, was the grand finale and was thoughtfully planned and beautifully executed. The encore piece was a movement from Dvorak's Dumky Trio.
There was a lot on on Saturday night and so a rather smaller audience than usual heard this fine group of real musicians playing real music. "
The Press - Christchurch - September 2007
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"... Beethoven wrote the Archduke, Piano Trio No7 ... Kungsbacka violinist, Malin Broman promised the slow movement was worth dying for. And it was - the slow movement is the heart of the piece -- a holy calm pervaded me as the comforting, serene music emanated the Adelaide town hall. ... The crowd agreed with my feeling that the Beethoven was the high water mark of the concert.
... the trio played a Paul Stanhope (young Australian composer) piece which I found discordant at first but was gradually swept up in the trio's enthusiasm for the challenging and vigorous work. Johannes Brahms Piano Trio No 2 completed the program - a happy, lilting work ... [that] drove the appreciative crowd wild with delight. ... ."
The Independent Weekly - Adelaide - August 2007
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So this is what the fuss is about
"Since winning the Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition in 1999, the Swedish-based Kungsbacka Piano Trio have been building themselves a reputation at a fast rate of knots ... [and] have impressed festival and concert audiences throughout the world with their maturity and confidence in approaching the cornerstones of the repertoire.
The majestic Archduke was given just the right amount of space in the first movement, setting things up for the jaunty scherzo - Broman and Svedberg working off each other beautifully - and the glorious andante. Crawford-Phillips control of pace and dynamic in the final movement was a highlight.
Brahms' C major trio was no less enjoyable with Broman and Svedberg shamelessly relishing the romantic unison melodies and Crawford-Phillips once again wonderful in the scherzo.
As if this wasn't enough the Stanhope work [Dulcissimo Usignolo], which opened the second half, brought audible gasps of delight from the audience. ... Snatches of the original [song by Monteverdi] impinge on some challenging excursions for the musicians in which they use various effects like pizzicato and bowing near the bridge and even a few plucked piano strings, ending in almost-celestial serenity."
The Manly Daily - Sydney - August 2007
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"Are we living through a golden age for British chamber music?
The Kungsbackas concert showed signs of immaculate preparation at every turn, yet the interpretations pulsed with inner life.
Beethovens G major Trio, sparked by the brilliance of pianist Simon Crawford-Phillips, was satisfying and exciting at the same time. The Largo was beautifully phrased, the final Presto was never a mere gabble and the understanding between violinist Malin Broman and cellist Jesper Svedberg was uncanny.
The string players close collaboration was perhaps even more important in the other works on the programme both of which needed the devoted advocacy they received. Faurs late D minor Trio found all three players breathing together, or so it seemed as they kept this difficult work gently and carefully en the rails. And then Rachmaninoffs Elegiac Trio in the same key, cut from the cloth of the CelIo Sonata, but lacking its luscious tunes, sprang off the page with a similar unified impact. A Mozart encore set the seal on a remarkable recital.
Is there a better trio ensemble in Western Europe?"
The Strad - Wigmore Hall, London - June 2006
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"…Most striking were the players' seamless, instinctive level of co-ordination, the way every corner was turned as a threesome, and their uncontainable delight."
The Strad
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"…This was playing of extraordinary eloquence and skill."
Manchester Evening News
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"...one of today's brightest chamber ensembles."
The Daily Telegraph
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"The Kungsbacka Piano Trio delivered a performance that was so intense, intimate and all encompassing that the music became nothing but an obsession…The Trio had that quality of ensemble that makes chamber music move beyond individuals to become a whole universe by itself."
Fyns Stift Stidende Odense, Denmark
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"An Excellent Beginning
The prime attraction of the Kungsbacka Piano Trio's Toronto debut was the North American premiere of a recent work by the brilliant Swedish composer Karin Rehnqvist. One was also, of course, curious to hear the young trio….and one was richly rewarded by composer and performers…Standard works in C minor – Beethoven's fiery Piano Trio Op.1 No.3 and Mendelssohn's Trio No.2, Op.66 – framed the programme. And the Kungsbacka gave exceptionally musical, intelligent performances of both. Crawford-Phillips….provided the necessary leadership yet remained first among equals – no mean feat when playing a concert grand with the lid fully raised. The Mendelssohn was exciting yet beautifully paced; the sound passionate but never forced. The performers took turns providing spoken introductions that were excellent: unpretentious, helpful and not too long."
National Post Walter Hall, Toronto December 2003
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"Rising stars destined for a brilliant career.
It is an exhilarating feeling when an audience knows it has just been enthralled by a performance from young musicians early in their career who are inevitably destined for greatness on the world stage. Monday's concert was such an occasion."
Inverness Town House November 2003
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"...the telepathy between all three players produced a performance of both precision and passion... This was playing of extraordinary eloquence and skill, and it was greeted with the kind of applause that shows deep feelings have been touched."
Manchester Evening News December 2002
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"...the Kungsbacka Piano Trio gave a sophisticated yet fresh and ardent performance of Beethoven's Archduke Trio, graced by the piano playing of Simon Crawford-Phillips."
The Times Wigmore Hall/BBC Radio 3 July 2002 (Hilary Finch)
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