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Yakov Kasman, Daniel Szasz, Wei Liu Combine For Mesmerizing Trios

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  • Yakov Kasman, Daniel Szasz, Wei Liu Combine For Mesmerizing Trios

    YAKOV KASMAN, DANIEL SZASZ, WEI LIU COMBINE FOR MESMERIZING TRIOS
    Michael Huebner

    al.com
    The Birmingham News
    September 30, 2009, 12:21PM

    Yakov Kasman is Associate Professor of Piano and Artist-in-Residence
    at UAB. He joined Alabama Symphony musicians Daniel Szasz and Wei
    Liu for a Concertmaster & Friends event Tuesday.ALABAMA SYMPHONY:
    CONCERTMASTER & FRIENDS

    Daniel Szasz, violinist; Wei Liu, cellist;Yakov Kasman, pianist

    Tuesday, Brock Recital Hall

    What began five years ago as a diversion for Alabama Symphony musicians
    has turned into a high-octane showcase for virtuoso chamber music,
    and word has gotten around.

    On Tuesday, all but a few seats were filled for a Concertmaster and
    Friends event in the 300-seat Brock Recital Hall, the area's premier
    chamber for chamber music. The audience was shuttled on a darkly
    romantic journey by way of seldom-heard piano trios from Russia
    and Armenia.

    Unlike, say, a string quartet, which strives for equilibrium and blend,
    a piano trio allows for greater individuality. And that's exactly
    how violinist Daniel Szasz, cellist Wei Liu and pianist Yakov Kasman
    approached these trios by Sergei Rachmaninoff and Arno Babadjanian.

    This was as much an inner journey as a musical excursion to the
    composers' homelands. Much of Rachmaninoff's "Trio Elegiaque" No. 2
    in D minor, Op. 9, is a showcase for the piano, as might be expected
    from that composer. Kasman, a faculty member at UAB, was clearly
    in charge, defining tempos, exaggerating dynamics and otherwise
    mesmerizing listeners with his fervor.

    Kasman's flamboyance could overwhelm Szasz and Liu at times, but who
    could argue with the results? This was a titanic display -- polished
    technique driven by furious passion. Each movement ended softly,
    the audience responding with breathless silence. Liu's sweet-toned
    lyricism surfaced on several occasions, but especially so in solos
    and a lengthy duet with Szasz in the second movement.

    Babadjanian's Trio in F sharp minor exposes the strings mo playing
    in the Andante was answered by Liu's probing solos, then transferred
    to Kasman. The finale was a rhythmic roller coaster ride, Szasz
    and Liu harmonizing in double-stops, Kasman's infectious playing
    transmitting energy.

    The printed program left out the Allegro Vivace finale, but it hardly
    mattered. So absorbing was the trio's playing, looking down at the
    program might have broken the spell.

    With world-class performances such as this, it is worth a reminder
    that these musicians live in the Birmingham area. Then again, filling
    a hall with chamber music on a weeknight speaks volumes. Perhaps it's
    not so surprising to find them here.
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