Music Reviews : Trio Eloquent in Ima Series

Cellist Daniel Rothmuller and flutist Toshiko Kohno are known more as rank-and-file orchestra players than as soloists. But when they teamed with San Francisco-based Caroline Pope-Kobler at the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center’s Doizaki Gallery on Friday night under the Ima Concerts aegis, their audience was treated to an evening of profound music making.

The concert began with a performance of Beethoven’s G-minor Cello Sonata, Opus 5 No. 2, that put across the music’s varied genius with an eloquence born of simple honesty. Instead of mixing music with speed to show off acrobatic dexterity, as so many superstars selfishly do, Rothmuller (associate principal in the Los Angeles Philharmonic) took the time seriously to probe and reveal the first movement’s sullen lines, then explored the mercurial textures and harmonies of the concluding Rondo with rewarding, if occasionally dogged, grace.

Next, Kohno (principal in the National Symphony in Washington) used her luxurious virtuosity to bring out the seductive lyricism of Prokofiev’s Opus 94 Flute Sonata. Speeds, as they were all evening, were moderate, and the warm, clear acoustics of the gallery made every note treasurable.

After intermission and Rothmuller’s ingenuous description of the composer as “one of those 19th-Century Romantics,” the trio gave a moving performance of Carl Maria von Weber’s G-minor Trio, Opus 63, that sensitively blended bittersweet, early Romantic tunes and late Classical style without seeming anachronistic.

Once again backed by Pope-Kobler’s sympathetic playing (on an agreeably bright Kawai piano), Rothmuller and Kohno played every strand of the music with an understanding arrived at, based on their occasional signs of unfamiliarity, not by long study but by deeply musical instinct.

As is customary, the concert was scheduled to be repeated Sunday in Claremont and tonight in Hermosa Beach.