Albany Trio concert

​​The Albany Piano Trio treated us to a delightfully varied and well chosen menu last night. They opened with Haydn - always good for reassuring an audience that it is in safe hands - and then brought on the surprise dish of the evening, Rebecca Clarke's Piano Trio of 1922. The Albanys are persuasive advocates for this seldom heard piece, which became the talk of the interval, the beautiful central movement having made a particular impression.

Bloch's atmospheric Three Nocturnes refreshed palates before Smetana's grand and volatile Piano Trio Op. 15, which deserves to find its way onto a few wish-lists. The evening ended with a lively encore described as a "combination of cakewalk and klezmer madness". (But who was the composer?)

The Albany Trio performed with maturity, skill and infectious enthusiasm. It was a shame they had no CDs with them, but anyone wanting to hear the Rebecca Clarke again can catch the Trio performing it next Tuesday (8 March) on Radio 3 at 13:00, and presumably on iPlayer afterward.

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