Concert review: Sitkovetsky Trio

It’s striking how, when violinist Alexander Sitkovetsky, cellist Isang Enders and pianist Wu Qian come together as the Sitkovetsky Trio, they celebrate their bold solo personalities while also producing one of the most supremely blended trio strings sounds around. It’s distinctive, and London’s chamber fans know it, meaning that not only did they pack the Wigmore Hall on 25 July despite serious competition from the Proms at the Royal Albert Hall, but this audience expressed its pleasure with Proms-like abandon, applauding between movements, and cheering the roof off after each half.

On the programme was the Andante from Clara Schumann’s Piano Trio in G minor, Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio no.1 in D minor and Beethoven’s ‘Archduke’. These were Romantic readings, coloured by warm vibrato, beautifully handled rubato and touches of portamento – which was especially effective in the Schumann, whose long, singing lines proved an especially effective vehicle for the string players’ aforementioned blending.

The Mendelssohn saw the trio spotlighting the piece’s darker side with touching tenderness, counterbalanced with big-boned drama and sparkling piano. The Scherzo of the ‘Archduke’ was a personality-rich peach over which each waltz reprise came newly coloured. Then for an encore, the Largo from Cécile Chaminade’s Second Piano Trio, performed with heart-filled lyricism; it was several seconds after its final, hushed, luminous chord before the audience roared its thanks. Magnificent.

CHARLOTTE GARDNER