Music and Dance Reviews : Gray, Thomas and Smith Play at Royce Hall

There isn’t a great deal of literature for clarinet-viola-piano trio, but a few of those works deserve performances now and then, particularly when they are delivered with the sort of precision displayed by clarinetist Gary Gray, violist Milton Thomas and pianist Brooks Smith in Royce Hall on Sunday.

“Bravura,” in fact is the appellation the trio has given itself, and not without justification. The three musicians demonstrated secure technique, superb control and extraordinary teamwork. To Mozart’s Trio in E-flat, K. 498, they brought style, poise and a fine sense of musical line. And yet one sensed a certain coolness in this reading, as if the players were afraid to take risks or display any emotion.

The clarinetist also seemed this way in Saint-Saens’ Sonata, Opus 167, which he and Smith rendered with polish. Gray produced a mellifluous, pure sound, but confined his dynamic range to the softer end of the spectrum, and had a habit of ending phrases so quietly as to be nearly inaudible.

His playing gained some warmth in Poulenc’s Sonata, particularly in the Romanza, to which he and Smith brought touching sensitivity. And the two displayed a delightful grasp of the Gallic humor found in the outer movements. In Berg’s Four Pieces, Opus 5, Gray emoted convincingly, and Smith, as in the other works, brought unusual feeling to the piano part.

Bruch’s Five Pieces, Opus 83, found the trio together again. The three seemed to put more drama into the late-Romantic work, and certainly made greater contrasts; while the slow movements exuded a reverent calmness, the driving Allegro agitato burned with energy.