Spelunking in Music’s Caves

Schumann’s Piano Trio, Op. 110 in G minor, has thousands of notes, if not tens of thousands. The same goes for Chopin’s Piano Trio, Op. 8 in G minor, and Brahms’ Piano Trio No. 2 in C Major, Op. 87. So many classical musicians are intent on bringing out every single written note that it’s a relief to hear an ensemble that knows exactly when to highlight a gesture and when to recede into the background texture. This, Trio Cavatina knows how to do. The result, as evident in its area debut Tuesday night at Herbst Theatre, was a fascinating musical conversation rather than a shouting match or a battle for supremacy.

Harumi Rhodes plays the violin with well-thought-out dynamics and phrasing, with emotional involvement that felt almost held back. Daughter of Juilliard Quartet violist Samuel Rhodes, she has been exposed to chamber music her entire life, and she carries on the family tradition proudly. Cellist Priscilla Lee knows the shifting role of her instrument in the piano trio; she’s capable of switching from a solid, warm bass to a fervent tenor-clef melody with ease. Lithuanian pianist Ieva Jokubaviciute also knows when to lead, when to support, when to blend, and when to get the heck out of the way. Each performer was a perfect third of the whole — delivering the music in an honest, democratic manner, with flawless ensemble and intonation.

This sophisticated sensitivity takes months of rehearsal and analysis — a long period of “excavation,” if you will, a word that shares its roots with the Italian cavare, which means to take out or obtain, also used as a word for the production of sound on a musical instrument. Sometimes, discovering the mysterious secrets in chamber music requires just this kind of excavation, as if removing a gem from the darkness of a cave. It’s a fitting analogy, but I’m not sure whether the young women of Trio Cavatina had this meaning in mind when they named their ensemble. (Maybe they thought of Beethoven’s Cavatina from his Op. 130 quartet.)

The Naumburg Award–winning ensemble’s all-Romantic program Tuesday, presented under the auspices of San Francisco Performances, did not provide for a great deal of variety, yet should not be penalized for consistency. The Schumann and Chopin trios are slightly more obscure siblings of the Brahms trio; they don’t lend themselves to popularity with memorable lines, relying instead on a complex, collaborative interplay, with counterpoint passed from side to side. This plays into Cavatina’s strength: the management of these overlapping lines.

The ensemble met in 2005 at the Marlboro Music Festival and recently completed New England Conservatory’s Professional Piano Training Program. The trio makes its Carnegie Hall debut in May, premiering a work by Richard Danielpour. Trio Cavatina is certainly on par to join A-list piano trios such as the Eroica Trio and the Ahn Trio. They have the look, the training, the ability, and the award. Now they just need to get out there and perform for the world.