Jugokoncert has enriched the Kolarac Hall’s Endowment Chamber Scene by the performance of the three exceptionally brilliant young artists from Boston, who, assembled as a piano trio, shared with the audiences of Belgrade their creative and inspired exchanges. Subtlety and the delicacy of the violinist, Irina Muresanu, rich and authoritative tone of the cellist, Allison Eldredge, and the virtuosity and depth of Heng-Jin Park’s brilliant piano playing, presented with an enviable level of professionalism subordinated to the emotional expression and with clear understanding of the musical scores and their demands.

The artists moved gracefully through precise stylistic frame of the Haydn’s Piano Trio Hob. XV No. 25 in G-Major; from the hesitant Andante in the introduction, to the lyrical piano cantabile of the middle movement, to the climax of the vigorous final movement, with sparkling rhythms and melodies of the Hungarian folklore.     

What followed after that was the Belgrade premiere of the contemporary American composer Paul Schoenfield, or rather his most popular piece “Café Music”. The mere title of the piece is evocative enough of the character of the music: a relaxing and stimulating mix of the pulsating jazz and ragtime rhythms, coloured by modern harmonies, belonging to both club and concert atmospheres, easy-listening yet very demanding for the performers.  Two centuries’ distance between Haydn and Schoenfield did not represent an immense gap for the Boston Trio, but rather was bridged with firm confidence, moving from the classicist and “popular” music to the impressionistic Ravel’s Trio in A minor. Effective instrumental colors of this piece blended in the diversity of Basque rhythms, naturally and with spontaneity, expressing a deep respect for the composer’s “handwriting” in the perfection of the Passacaglia and its reflections in the Finale.