Cottier Chamber Project

James Clark, Alexei Kiseliov, Susan Tomes

Glasgow University Concert Hall

Michael Tumelty

four stars

CLARA Schumann was one of the great women of the 19th century, and I will never budge an inch from that view. An international touring pianist, a working mother and a tireless, though not uncritical supporter of her husband Robert’s musical development – it was she who encouraged Robert to think big and write symphonies – Clara was also a composer, though she pretty much gave in to her husband’s insistence that the house was big enough for only one composer. (Mahler would later to do the same to his wife.)

There is some interest these days in Clara’s compositions, and her Piano Trio in G minor received a fine, lucid performance on Sunday night from a superb group comprised of pianist Susan Tomes, the inimitable violinist Jim Clark and RSNO principal cellist Alexei Kiseliov. The four-movement Trio was impeccably crafted, very much a descendant of the “classical” style, though with a Romantic accent, and extremely pleasant on the ear. But it terribly lacked a spark of fire or originality. There was an anodyne quality to its character: it did nothing unexpected. It felt like music “by the book”. I found myself willing Clara to take a left turn instead of a right, or to throw a curved ball of rhythmic surprise or harmonic pungency into the mix. I’ll now slope off shamefacedly and apologise to my favourite lady of music. But not until I acknowledge the explosively-impassioned and volatile performance by these three great musicians of Smetana’s stunning Piano Trio: the players had this one by the throat from bar one and never let go.