MUSIC REVIEW : Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio Opens Chamber Series

All the signs Monday indicated a routine evening at best. Familiar players had rounded up some of the usual central European suspects for a program of outdoor chamber music, never a hot chance for subtle communication.

But strong, focused performances from pianist Joseph Kalichstein, violinist Jaime Laredo and cellist Sharon Robinson--with a modest repertory twist--opened the E. Nakamichi Chamber Concerts at the Ford Amphitheatre with satisfying flair and intensity.

The central kicker on the cohesive agenda came from Mendelssohn, with the Opus 66 Trio in C minor appearing instead of his popular, earlier work in D minor. This is big, passionate, indelibly Mendelssohnian music, and it received an appropriately volatile reading.

Accepting the birds, crickets and planes--including one with an engine rumble almost squarely in key for a Brahms cadence--as unavoidable environmental concomitants, the chief acoustic liability Monday was a surprising diminution of the piano’s presence. Part of it seemed Kalichstein’s deliberate and welcome deference to the collective effort over personal display, but surely the degree to which he faded from the texture at times was uncalculated.

Balances aside, the three musicians offered pinpoint ensemble, and rich sound anchored by Robinson’s resonant cello. Most cherishable was their shared sense of phrasing and color.

They brought equal dedication and verve to Brahms’ Trio in B, Opus 8. Kalichstein seemed to be tiring and his accuracy suffered, but spirits remained high and pertinently directed, although the first movement wandered a bit.

Haydn’s Trio in G, Hob. XV:25, began the concert. Laredo’s gentle portamentos seemed misapplied there, in an otherwise crisp, mainstream account fired by Kalichstein’s propulsive, fully articulate playing in the Rondo all’Ongarese finale.