New piano quartet Espressivo introduces itself to Indianapolis audience

A traditional partnership of two well-established musical organizations made its annual presence felt again Tuesday night to welcome a chamber-music newcomer with a familiar face at the head: Jaime Laredo, who has chaired the jury of the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis for the past 30 years, is the violinist of Espressivo. Besides the IVCI, the Ensemble Music Society presented the concert.

Espressivo: Robinson, Laredo, Polonsky, Pajaro-van de Stadt

Laredo and his wife, cellist Sharon Robinson, for several decades performed together with the late pianist Joseph Kalichstein as a piano trio that carried their names. They are the foundation of Espressivo, which also counts violist Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt and pianist Anna Polonsky as members. The program at Indiana Landmarks Center featured an Espressivo co-commission, "Joy Steppin'" by Nokuthula Ngwenyama, that had received its premiere Monday in Cincinnati.

"Joy Steppin'" is about 12 minutes long, and packs in a variety of joyful behavior. At the start, there is a kind of floating feeling to the ensemble, with phrases that reach up balancing those that reach down. There are notable episodes spotlighting the cello — running figures that obliquely resemble a melody — and later a forthright melody, with a distinct vocal quality, for the viola. 

There is a wealth of dancing syncopation suggesting vernacular music, and finally a full ensemble section leading to a climactic ending, nailed down with a few heavy accents. "Joy settles deep and carries us beyond the abyss," the composer says in a program note. Her work resolutely transcends the abyss.  She quotes Brittney Cooper, a professor of women's, gender, and sexuality studies at Rutgers University, perhaps as a kind of friendly warning not to expect the aesthetic of modernism past its sell-by date: "Joy is an invitation to make new worlds rather than being held hostage to the old ones." The large audience's standing ovation after the final chord seemed an expression of gratitude for the invitation. 

The concert opened with a fine exposition of the internal balance and emotional rapport of the new group. Mozart's Piano Quartet in E-flat, K. 493, offered an immediate chance to appreciate Polonsky's artistry. In the Larghetto, she modeled for her colleagues a penchant for patiently unfolding slow melody. The masterly question-and-answer layout of the finale included a deft display of humor just before the return of the rondo theme. The pianist, responding well to the work's unceasing demands, again displayed her facility and zest, and all four gave a brilliant account of the brief coda.

After intermission came the expansive Brahms Piano Quartet in G minor, op. 25, focusing attention abruptly with its robust opening, deeply rooted in a milieu of struggle. The second movement maintained such energy while being more inward-looking. The violin's muted sonority was seconded by the smooth blend of his colleagues. The expressive variety of the Andante con moto third movement gave a few hints of what was to come in the finale. In that Rondo alla Zingarese, the principal material practically encourages dancing in the aisles. 

But in this performance, such exuberance was tucked into contrasting ways  of paying tribute to what the 19th-century Central European mainstream imagined was gypsy life. I found this interpretation quite refreshing, with an almost suite-like breadth of idiomatic splendor. The intense focus of Espressivo never wavered, yet the ensemble gave full expression to Brahms' personalized survey of Romani musical culture.