Jerusalem Trio’s Performance Feels Sluggish

The Jerusalem Trio has been rising in the world ranks since its founding in 1989, nurtured by the Jerusalem Music Center, supported by several musical movers and shakers (Isaac Stern, Pinchas Zukerman, etc.), and starting to make its presence known on CDs. Yet there are times when things just don’t happen musically--as was the case Sunday at Fullerton’s Sunny Hills High School, the last stop on the trio’s U.S. tour.

The circumstances didn’t help matters: It was an unseasonably warm afternoon, the energy level within the small Performing Arts Center was correspondingly low, and it was the first day of daylight saving time, meaning that many were deprived of some necessary sleep (several patrons could be heard snoring).

Do external matters like these affect performances? They certainly do in the pop and jazz arenas, less so in classical concerts due to the less spontaneous nature of the music and more exacting preparations that classical performers make. But I suspect that they were a factor on Sunday.

Thus the merits of Paul Ben-Haim’s sometimes grim, ancient-flavored “Variations on a Hebrew Melody” were difficult to assess. Dvorak’s “Dumky” Trio never did catch fire; the sharply drawn mood swings between melancholy and revelry were minimized, the dance rhythms wouldn’t take off.

Schubert’s Trio in E flat, Opus 100, had some nicely delicate interplay and near-perfect balances; pianist Yaron Rosenthal never overwhelms his colleagues, violinist Roy Shiloah and cellist Ariel Tushinsky, even though he plays with the lid of his piano fully open. But there was little drive or depth behind this mild-mannered, genial concept--and many of Schubert’s magically profound passages, particularly in the second movement, came and went without any emotional impact.