It’s rare to see such an enthusiastic audience at a chamber concert but the Bangkok Tour de Trio received something of an ovation after their recent concert at Ben’s Theatre in Jomtien on February 7. Based at the College of Music at Mahidol University, the trio is coached by cellist Stefanie Waegner and consists of three splendidly talented young players; violinist Kittipith Kaivikai, pianist Mika Yamashita and cellist Vannophat Kaploykeo.
From the opening bars of Haydn’s Piano Trio No. 39 it was clear that they are exceptional musicians. Their careful and assured playing of the first movement was perfectly judged in terms of tempo and dynamics and their musicianship was evident especially in the lyrical slow movement which was given a sensitive and thoughtful performance. The solo piano passages were played eloquently by Mika Yamashita with some lovely hushed accompaniment from the strings. This piano trio is usually known as the Gypsy Rondo on account of the last movement which is headed Rondo a l’Ongarese. The players gave a rousing performance of the lively dance-like finale and really brought out its fiery Hungarian flavour.
(Left-right) Tour de Trio: Mika Yamashita, Kittipith Kaivikai and Vannophat Kaploykeo perform at Ben’s on February 7. (Photo Colin Kaye)
Like many of Haydn’s piano trios, the music is dominated by the piano part and Mika gave a splendid performance of the technically demanding piano writing. She is now twenty-one and started music lessons at the age of three at the Yamaha Music School in Japan. After graduating from junior high school she moved to Thailand to enter the College of Music at Mahidol University. Mika currently studies piano with the distinguished Japanese teacher Eri Nakagawa.
Kittipith Kaivikai.
The second work on the programme was the Piano Trio No 1 by Dmitri Shostakovich, composed when he was in a sanatorium in the Crimea after a serious bout of tuberculosis. He was sixteen. In some ways it is an extraordinary work partly because it gives us glimpses of his mature musical style. It’s a challenging work too, not so much for getting the notes in the right order and in the right place, but also dealing with the sudden dramatic changes of mood. With brilliantly vivacious piano writing, sardonic phrases intermingle with romantic ideas and there are lyrical moments of bitter-sweetness.
Mika Yamashita.
The young musicians gave a splendid and often moving account of the work with instrumental balance spot-on and beautifully-judged dynamics. They were helped incidentally, by the excellent acoustics of Ben’s Theatre which is ideal for chamber music.
Unlike the Haydn trio in which the strings double the piano for much of the time, Shostakovich gives the violin and cello greater independence. There are some lovely melodies for the cello which Vannophat Kaploykeo played beautifully. Vannophat began cello lessons at the age of ten and is currently a student of Juris Lakutis, the principal cellist of the Thailand Philharmonic. Last year Vannophat was chosen as principal cellist of the Salaya Chamber Orchestra and is currently a member of the Princess Galyani Vaddhana Youth Orchestra.
Vannophat Kaploykeo.
Violinist Kittipith Kaivikai is just twenty years old and he started learning piano when he was five. He’s currently a student of Yavet Boyadjiev and also studies viola with Juris Madrevich at the College of Music at Mahidol University. His performance of these difficult works was remarkably assured and his tone quality beautifully clean and bright.
The second half of the concert contained just one work, the impressive and brooding Piano Trio in G minor by Smetana. Written shortly after the death of his four-year-old daughter, the work is an intense statement of personal grief and melancholy, dominated by contrasts of light and darkness. This is one of the most powerful works in the repertoire and it’s also technically challenging with many difficult passages.
The work needs strong playing and the young musicians certainly provided a powerful and emotional performance. Both the string players showed that they could produce a huge tone quality, which literally filled the room with sound. The second movement reaches to the heart of the music and there was some lovely sensitive playing from all three musicians. They launched into the Finale with breath-taking energy and captured the essence of the lyrical moments perfectly. It was a dazzling performance.
