South Bend Tribune, IN
Oct 19 2007
Trio ‘wail(s)’ with unexpected choices
JACK WALTON
Tribune Correspondent
The final movement of Peter Schickele’s "Serenade for Three" calls
for distinctly American boogie-woogie piano.
Not exactly the traditional image associated with chamber music, but
The Prima Trio doesn’t take a traditional approach to its repertoire.
Such derring-do certainly works for the young ensemble.
In May, the trio walked off with the Grand Prize at the Fischoff
National Chamber Music Association’s 2007 competition after a
performance that included the Schickele piece, which is based on
themes from the oratorio "Oedipus Tex" by the composer’s comedic
alter-ego, P.D.Q. Bach.
"To be honest, it was something new for me," pianist Anastasia Dedik
says with a laugh of playing the boogie-woogie rhythm. "I have never
played anything like that in my life! But it’s such fun, and the
audiences always love it."
The members of the trio — all in their early to mid-20s — impressed
the Fischoff committee with their choice, as witty as it was
unexpected, and it also helped solidify Schickele’s growing
reputation as a serious (if playful) composer.
"The Schickele was a wonderful surprise," Fischoff executive director
Ann Divine says. "We tend to think of the funny pieces (by P.D.Q.
Bach), but this is just lovely."
The trio — violinist Farhad Hudiyev, clarinetist Boris Allakhverdyan
and Dedik — also impressed Divine with the rest of their
"nontraditional, to say the least," repertoire and configuration of
instrument.
"We don’t want to be seen as a string quartet competition or a brass
quintet competition," Divine says of having a piano trio win
Fischoff’s Grand Prize. "We want to represent all the different forms
of chamber music. The Prima Trio played so well, so passionately. The
repertoire that they’re playing has a kind of klezmer sound to it."
As natives of Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and Russia, Prima’s members —
who met at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music — should have at least
a passing familiarity with klezmer, a style of Jewish folk music that
developed in Eastern Europe and areas of what was the Soviet Union.
"They have a passionate feel for that kind of music, and interpreting
it," Divine says.
This background applies particularly to the trio’s selection of Aram
Khachaturian’s Trio for Clarinet, Violin and Piano, one of Prima’s
centerpieces.
"The Khachaturian was the first piece we played together, three years
ago," Dedik says by telephone on a tour stop in New York City.
"That’s our favorite. He was Armenian and lived in Russia for a
while. Boris, the clarinetist, is Armenian as well. That’s a close
piece to our hearts. We love playing it. The music is beautiful."
Along with the Khachaturian, the trio’s current tour of the Midwest
— which concludes Sunday at Andrews University in Berrien Springs —
includes compositions by Darius Milhaud, Charles Ives, Astor
Piazzolla, and the Schickele.
Piazzolla’s "Oblivion" and "Otoño Porteño" add a Latin dimension to
the trio’s repertoire. The arrangements are by The Prima Trio, mainly
Allakhverdyan.
"Boris did most of the work," Dedik says. "But we sit and discuss
things together, thinking how it would go and the best way to arrange
it for this ensemble."
The trio’s violinist wrote the piece "Fleeting Miniatures" for the
ensemble, and Dedik enjoys playing her colleague’s work.
"It’s a beautiful piece, and he dedicated it to his family," she
says. "When I first saw the score — he sent it to me in August — I
knew what the trio would sound like. He told me that I inspired him
and that he wrote the piano part for me."
Repertoire alone, however, doesn’t define Prima.
"They’re wailers," Fischoff’s Divine says of their playing style.
"They wail, and that’s refreshing."
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