Reviews

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Caption: Unified playing. The Backman Trio consists of Ruth Beedham - cello, Marcus Andrews - piano and Frida Backman - violin.

The Backman Trio Impress

The  Backman Trio - who are based in London, are currently on a mini concert  tour including Helsinki and Turku. Tonight the trio are performing at  the Music Centre.

Chamber Music

The Backman Trio

Bergman, Debussy, Sibelius

At Sandels School of Culture 2/4/12

In  2003 violinist Frida Backman left Finland for England with the  intention to stay for 9 months as an exchange student at Trinity College  of Music, London. This became an exile period of nine years that still  continues. For three years she has played in a piano trio bearing her  name together with cellist Ruth Beedham and pianist Marcus Andrews whom  she met at Trinity College of Music. Since the foundation of the group  the trio have made small tours in the Swedish speaking regions of  Finland.

     It is a really welcome initiative to bring music into schools. This is  relatively rare here in our country whereas it is common practice in the  UK, for really competent musicians to perform music in schools. The  lunch time recital, which took place in Backman’s old school by Tölö  market square, showed how well the music hits home with a younger  audience.

     The tour repertoire consists of youthful works by prolific composers.  It seems like a successful attempt to balance music that is easy to  listen to and yet interesting enough for the experts; it is not every  day one hears Erik Bergman’s Trio opus 2 - which is not even included on  the official list of his works, or the piano trio in G major by  Debussy, written by an eighteen year old.

     The Bergman trio was performed at the centenary concert in  Uusikaarlepyy last summer and has a thoroughly French feel to it, like  Ravel, Satie or Poulenc, but still emphasising show and blues tunes more  than above mentioned composers. The work is rhythmical and fast flowing  and offers fast runs for all parts and is generally very strong in its  expression, something that is familiar from Bergman’s later works.

     The piano trio by Debussy was written in 1880 when Debussy was working  in Russia for the patron Nadezja von Meck, but it was first performed  only one hundred years later. Mostly it sounds like salon music, with  some seasoning. Most interesting I find the opening of the second  movement with pizzicati in the strings and a chromatically rising line.  The voluptuous ending is also most attractive.

     The dancelike Andantino (JS 43) and the silly Allegro (JS 27) by Sibelius are well placed on the programme.

     Intonation and  sound quality are not always one hundred percent with  The Backman Trio, but their ensemble playing is very fluid and their  phrasing is of first class, particularly in the meaty melodic lines.  Their playing is full of joy and they are making music with ease.

Wilhelm Kvist

The  Backman Trio are tonight performing at the Camerata Hall, in Helsinki  Music Centre at 7pm and tomorrow they are performing at the Sibelius  Museum in Turku

“Bringing the House Down at West Lakes Academy”

Review by Keith Bradshaw in Egremont 2Day, 1st May 2012

When the Backman Piano Trio  finished their concert with a fine performance of Shostakovitch’s Piano  Trio No 2, it was followed by enthusiastic applause, so much so that  they played an encore. This, an attractive ‘allegro’ by Sibelius, was  the last ever piece to be performed for SASRA Music & Arts in the  Theatre of the former Wyndham School. Three very talented musicians:  Frida Backman (violin), Ruth Beedham (cello) and pianist Marcus Andrews  formed the Trio in 2009 and have been performing across the UK and  Finland and will be recording some previously un-recorded British and  Finnish works.
The well balanced programme covered two hundred years  of musical ‘development’, from 18th century Haydn to 20th century  Shostakovitch. It included a rarely performed chamber work by Sibelius  and the very English-sounding ‘Phantasie’ Trio by John Ireland (the 50th  anniversary of whose death falls this year).
So, a much-appreciated  concert, but in a way, tinged with sadness, with an era coming to an  end. What of the old theatre, as the applause for The Backman Trio and  that for the 300 or so classical performances since 1965, fades? Well,  they’ll be bringing the house down once more, in the summer, but this  time it’ll be the demolition men, not the musicians.
Next season  begins on 12 October, when The City of London Sinfonia will play music  by Mozart, Piazolla and Tchaikovsky. The soloists will be the well known  Guitar Duo: The Katona Twins. The concert will be in Egremont Market  Hall.

Review by David Killick

Impressive Concert Season Ends on a High Note

What a fine way to end the  Season of classical concerts at the West Lakes Academy! The Backman  Trio recently brought the SASRA Music and Arts series to a close with  fine performances of rarely-heard works. Even the present reviewer,  passionate about Haydn string quartets, had never come across his Trio  which began the programme. It was played with great delicacy and charm –  a most convincing account. There followed a Sibelius work which  included a wide variety of moods, all subtly conveyed by these  distinguished artistes.

The remaining works in the  Backman Trio’s programme can only be described as revelations. Why is  the Trio by Ireland not heard more often? It is a delight from beginning  to end, and brought great pleasure to the large  audience. As for the  Shostakovich, the performers showed they could play not only with  finesse but with power too, and this was a dazzling way to end the  concert. Although it proved not to be quite the end after all, because  the Trio managed to find enough energy to entertain with a brief encore  which sent the audience home with smiles on their faces.

The SASRA Music and Arts  Committee are to be congratulated on organising such a splendid series  of concerts – the last to be held in the Academy’s theatre, since we  learn that the 2012-13 Season will be taking place at Egremont’s Market  Hall. In the meantime, West Cumbria continues to enjoy first-class  performances of chamber music at a number of other venues. There was,  for example, a fine programme of string quartets given recently at the  Nether Wasdale Church by the Stonebridge Quartet - an annual event which  seems to become more and more impressive every year.

Thank you for a splendid concert last night. It was a great programme,  varied and very interesting, and took us from the 18th Century to the  21st.  You all have such a rich tone, impeccable intonation, and great  passion for the music.  Marcus, you managed to get really lovely sounds  out of our old piano, and you are a perfect accompanist when required.  Ruth, your beautiful singing tone enchanted us all, and Frida, your  inspiring playing and tremendous energy delighted all of us.

Thank you for your performance yesterday. Many of our members are  knowledgeable musicians, but I think we all discovered something new  last night. The feedback I received after the recital was very positive  and one member even phoned me at home today and left a message to say  how much he had enjoyed the evening.