MUSIC REVIEW : Budapest Trio Plays Before Small Audience at Chapman College Hall

The Budapest Trio made its Orange County debut Tuesday night in the austerity of Salmon Recital Hall at Chapman College. Perhaps 100--many of them students required to submit reports--attended. They turned out to be a very privileged hundred.

With Haydn, Schubert and Beethoven as mainstays, the Budapest Trio did not hazard a daring program. Even Dohnanyi’s Serenade, Opus 10, represented Hungary conservatively. Still, the trio--violinist Ferenc Kiss, violist Tivadar Popa and German cellist Peter Wopke (the only one not from Hungary)--proved itself an ensemble capable of stunning interpretive unity and control.

Most notable was a chameleon-like ability to alter tone color to suit the work. In the opening movements of two B-flat trios, Haydn’s Opus 53, No. 1 and Schubert’s D. 581--the former marked Allegretto ed innocente, the latter implicitly demanding a cantabile approach--the group adopted a warm, inviting quality. But Beethoven’s intense C-minor trio, Opus 9, No. 3, and the March from Dohnanyi’s Serenade evoked a biting edge.

Exquisite control extended to the dynamic palette as well. In the Haydn trio, identical in all but its key with the G-major Piano Sonata written in 1784, the Budapest concentrated on fine nuance within the lower ranges of the dynamic spectrum. As a result, the first movement in particular emerged with a greater intimacy than the lighter piano version conveys.

Though holding rapt attention to detail, the ensemble illuminated mature understanding of overall structure. In the Allegro con spirito of the Beethoven trio, admirable control of accent and direction, and fine mirroring of motives as they passed from one player to another, imparted unity to the movement.

Similarly, the trio maintained momentum through the potential pitfalls of Schubert’s quiet, quirky Andante (omitted from the printed program), a movement full of stops and starts that threaten cohesiveness.

The Budapest Trio is an ensemble of musicians, not showmen. Technical demands of speed and precision did not faze them; the perpetual motion of Dohnanyi’s Scherzo raced by, light, clear and focused. But they avoided acrobatics as a means to impress--choosing, for instance, a very conservative Presto in the Finale of the Beethoven trio, a tempo that permitted unswerving faithfulness to musical subtleties.