Ralph Kirshbaum Chamber Studio Master Class

Busch Ensemble in Brahms Piano Trio Op 8

King's Place 21st October Hall 2, 14.00 - 18.00

This was absorbing to attend, though the sharpness of criticisms and requirements seemed rather overwhelming for the less experienced young Quartet tackling Schumann, though they worked with a will.

However, the Busch Ensemble took Kirschbaum's intensive working over details in the Brahms Op 8 Trio (later version) in their stride, and were sufficiently flexible as to have a mature student/teacher dialogue.

Having wondered which version of the trio would be taken apart, it was interesting to hear a story from Kirschbaum about having been parted from their music on a flight to perform it in Australia, to be offered a library copy at nearly the last minute - the wrong one, it turned out ! *

An innovation was the provision of amplification which was completely successful, allowing every word to be overheard clearly, without Kirschbaum needing to divert his attention to attend to the audience.

A few days later, it was serendipitous to receive the new recording of the Schubert Quintet with the Takacs Quartet, the most satisfying modern recording of this oft recorded masterpiece I have heard [Hyperion CDA67864].

Peter Grahame Woolf

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