MUSIC REVIEWS : SUK TRIO AT AMBASSADOR AUDITORIUM

As the members of the Suk Trio finally made their way on stage at Ambassador Auditorium on Thursday--a full hour past curtain time, due to an airline snafu--violinist Josef Suk opened his arms with a “forgive-me” gesture toward the audience.

It was the only time apologies would be needed.

Still dressed in the suits they wore for their flight, Suk and his Czech cohorts--cellist Josef Chuchro and pianist Josef Hala--proceeded to play the announced program sans interruption.

Not only did the music emerge fresh and unhurried, but the three works by Czech composers actually seemed to benefit from the unbroken flow. As the concert unfolded, the listener soon began to understand the spirit of the players’ and composers’ homeland.

From the heart-on-sleeve mush of a brief Elegie by turn-of-the-century composer Josef Suk (the violinist’s grandfather), through the restrained emotions of Smetana’s G-minor Trio, to the exuberant outpourings of Dvorak’s “Dumky,” the three veteran players displayed a consistent richness of tone and virtuosity of technique.

They captured the subtle sense of sadness in the Smetana and seemed to relate easily to the myriad lyrical charms and shifting moods of the Dvorak (the composer, after all, was the violinist’s great-grandfather).

A Haydn allegro and a Beethoven adagio served as the encores.