Ryedale Festival

St John and All Saints’ Church, Easingwold

AS USUAL, Ryedale Festival is dotted with Coffee Concerts featuring mainly young and accomplished musicians in venues across their area.

With coffee and biscuits available beforehand there seems to be a lively social air about them and that was certainly the case in this, their first such concert to be given at this very attractive church in Easingwold.

The Phoenix Piano Trio was established in 2010 but introduced their newest member, Christian Elliott, on cello who joined Jonathan Stone on violin and Sholto Kynoch piano.

They began with Haydn’s Piano Trio in G major, H.XV 25, with the three musicians very well balanced, dancing around each other in the opening Andante.

The second movement was truly cantabile with its evenly flowing melody played in turn by each instrument, swelling now and again before gently subsiding.

Here and throughout I was particularly taken with the softness of the piano which never overwhelmed the string players.

The final Hungarian Rondo was taken at a lively pace but never at the expense of clarity.

Although written when Brahms was a young man (albeit later revised and strengthened) his Trio No. 1 in B major, Op. 8 was clearly a much deeper work with the strings blending in a very satisfying way.

The Adagio was especially touching with a touch of gravity about it here and there, especially from the violin, and the final Allegro very spirited and passionate.

Peter Bevan