The opening program of the University of Southern Maine’s faculty concert series was entitled, rather confusingly, “240 Strings.” I’m assuming that is the combined number of strings on a concert grand, violin and cello, but it would depend on the age and make of the piano.

The piano was played by Anastasia Antonacos, the violin by Patrick Doane and the cello by Benjamin Noyes, in a series of three famous piano trios.

Although all three are internationally known musicians, the evening was a mixed bag.

It began with Maurice Ravel’s Piano Trio in A Minor, listed as second on the program. I suspect that it was placed first to get it out of the way. The playing was fine, except for a few sour notes, but the rendition lacked excitement and direction. It caught fire for a few moments in the final “Animé,” but it was too late.

The Ravel Trio is a decidedly quirky piece, combining Basque dance forms and a mixture of quatrains in the second movement from Malaysian poetry. It lacks balance, since it is basically a reworked piano concerto, but in the right hands it shows its true colors as a masterpiece of the genre.

The key is to emphasize the virtues of its defects. If it reads like a piano concerto, play it like a concerto. Antonacos strove for balance and subtlety, whereas the Trio is as wild and woolly as an Airedale puppy.

Her approach was eminently successful in the second work, the Piano Trio No. 39 in G Major (Hob. XV/25), which is a cultured conversation among equals, although the piano sometimes directs its course. The final “Rondo a l’Ongarese, Presto,” is more authentic and more fun than any of Franz Liszt’s later efforts to capture the flavor of Hungary. Every movement, from the variations of the first through the singing voices of the second to the breakneck presto, was a pure delight.

The final work on the program, Robert Schumann’s great Piano Trio in D Minor, was also carefully thought out.

The sound was fuller, almost orchestral, and there were some sublime passages, such as the muted string melody against repeated notes on the piano, which reminded one of Franz Schubert.

The last movement, “Mit Feuer,” is one of the most ravishingly melodic that Schumann ever wrote, and the trio gave it the treatment it deserved.

The standing ovation from the sold-out hall was also deserved.

Christopher Hyde’s Classical Beat column appears in the Maine Sunday Telegram. He can be contacted at:

classbeat@netscape.net

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