Music Reviews : Lyric Trio Gives Benefit Concert in Beverly Hills

Much good came out of the Lyric Trio’s program Sunday afternoon, a benefit concert sponsored by Volunteer Services of County-USC Medical Center. Besides helping to meet patient needs, the 200 or so auditors at All Saints Episcopal Church in Beverly Hills heard some fine music-making.

The locally based ensemble brought telling contrasts and dramatic scope to four movements from Dvorak’s “Dumky” Trio and Brahms’ Trio, Opus 8, the opening and closing works, respectively. All three--pianist Rita Paskowitz Rubin, violinist Laurette Carlson and cellist Janice Foy--played with great sensitivity and a melodic eloquence that makes the group’s name particularly apt. The three, moreover, gave rhythmically secure, interpretively unified readings.

Unfortunately, Carlson often encountered difficulty in maintaining accurate intonation. It was also unfortunate that the sanctuary’s live acoustic gave rise to significant problems of balance and clarity. The piano, despite a closed lid, often overpowered the strings, and rapid passages--particularly in the piano but in the strings as well--sounded downright muddy.

Three 20th-Century works filled out the program. The second movement from Joaquin Turina’s Trio No. 1, Alfred Carlson’s 12-tone “Angels’ Flight” (1986), and Bloch’s deservedly little-played Nocturne No. 3 received very respectable readings.