Date: Fri 20-Feb-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: DONNAM

Quick Words:

Eroica-Trio-NFoM-Edmond

Full Text:

(rev The Eroica Trio performance for NFoM)

Concert Review: NFoM Guests The Eroica Trio Created Exalting Music

By June April

The enthusiastic praises that accompany performances by The Eroica Trio are

not only justified, but totally warranted! These three talented and committed

musicians are a pleasure to listen to and to watch. Their love of music, the

bond between them, as well as their music, speaks volumes.

The Trio was the invited guest of the Newtown Friends of Music last weekend. A

performance was presented at Newtown's Edmond Town Hall on February 15.

At the onset of the afternoon's performance, Newtown Friends of Music

President Ellen Parella announced with a big smile that there were nearly

three dozen young people in attendance. And there was rapt attention

throughout the concert.

Two of the pieces performed, Maurice Ravel's Trio in minor and a lovely

transcription by Raimundo Penaforte of George Gershwin's Three Preludes for

Piano , are on the trio's premiere compact disc. A second CD is to be recorded

this spring, and there is talk about doing a video of the Eroica performing

Brahms.

The first two works were of the Classic and Neoclassic periods. A lovely

Sonata in G Major by Antonio Lotti warmed the audience with its melodic

beauty. Following with Beethoven's Trio in D Major, Op. 70, No. 1 , the Trio

offered a sensitive and brilliant performance. The second movement, Largo

assai e espressivo was profoundly moving, yet not over-sentimentalized.

A special encore was played as a tribute to Danbury resident June Goodman, who

died around Christmas last year. Mrs Goodman's activism and commitment to the

arts and education will be sorely missed. Sergei Rachmaninoff's Vocalise , the

chosen piece, was as beautiful a tribute to a dynamic and caring woman as one

could wish for.

The individual members of the Eroica Trio are internationally recognized for

their musicianship. Pianist Erika Nickrenz debuted at age 11 at New York's

Town Hall and has performed throughout Europe. Since her husband is a

clarinetist with an orchestra, she has an understanding and supportive spouse.

The sweet tone and exquisite technique of violinist Adela Pena accounts for

the awards received in competitions. She has performed extensively as a

soloist on several continents, to rave reviews. This reviewer was in awe of

her vibrato; at some points her fingers were actually a blur from the speed of

her movements.

Twelve years ago cellist Sara Sant'Ambrogio won the bronze medal at the

prestigious international Tchaikovsky Cello competition in Moscow. Five years

later, in 1991, she performed on the award-winning recording of Leonard

Bernstein's Arias and Barcaroles .

With concerts scheduled in Asia as well as more in the United States, the

Eroica Trio's reputation expands to new audiences. Their demanding timetable

finds them in great form. They are stunning women, slim and attractive, and

they emanate warmth and inner beauty and vitality beyond the norm.

All Julliard School graduates, these women are very close friends as well as

musical partners who clearly relish every aspect of their relationship. There

is little doubt this was one of the most outstanding musical events ever

presented by the Newtown Friends of Music.