Weiss/Schmidt/Bailey Trio

I'm late getting this up, but on Monday night, G-Dog and I went to the final of this season's Patten Performances. It was supposed to be the Perlman/Schmidt/Bailey Trio, but Navah Perlman (daughter of Itzhak) is ripe with twins, so Orion Weiss filled in (breathtakingly) on the piano. Violinist Giora Schmidt and cellist Zuill Bailey completed the trio.

The first piece, Haydn's "Gypsy" Trio in G Major, Hob XV:25, was the most exciting (they played the Rondo again, though even faster, as an encore later) and was followed by Brahms's Trio in B Major, Op. 8 and Schubert's Piano Trio No. 1 in B-flat Major, Op. 99, D 898. As you can see from the picture below, our vantage point gave us a good view of the keyboard and of the cellist. I enjoyed that position both because I like to be able to see the pianist's hands (I was never any good, but I did used to play) and because it was so much fun to watch Bailey enjoy himself -- he was absolutely bursting with joy as he played, and he kept breaking into the biggest grins throughout the performance. All three musicians (young as they are) treated us to a great night -- they played with skill, maturity and depth, and performed with incredible energy, while interacting with each other on a level that gave the audience a sense of being part of something that was intimate and unique.