Three Is a Magic Number for Golub-Kaplan-Carr Trio

Nothing less than heroic is the wonder-making ensemble of violinist Mark Kaplan, cellist Colin Carr and pianist David Golub. The Golub-Kaplan-Carr Trio returned to Southern California Sunday afternoon and gave an ear-opening, emotionally wide-ranging performance in Schoenberg Hall at UCLA.

The trio’s program of works by Beethoven, Nicholas Maw and Dvorak offered an intent audience some serious listening, with variety in abundance and a thrilling virtuosity.

Written at the same time as the famously promising piano trios of Opus 1, Beethoven’s Variations in E-flat, Opus 44, have all the weight and brilliance of those works; here they served as a bright, exhilarating overture to an even weightier construct.

That was Maw’s large-boned Piano Trio (1991), a demanding exploration of cataclysmic and poetic musical events that used the players’ full arsenal of techniques, control and understanding.

It is an expansive, deeply felt work, perhaps overloaded with climaxes, but consistently fulfilling. And the three players, on display in every moment, made the English composer’s often compulsive, overwrought piece seem important.

Dvorak’s colorful “Dumky” Trio, Opus 90, concluded the concert and gave the three virtuosos more chances to take chances--with timing, spontaneity and technical feats. At that point, the afternoon became a happy reminder that fun should always be a large part of every concert experience.