New York Classical Review

Characterizing Gabriel Fauré’s attractive yet elusive chamber music in words is no easy matter, but the violinist and encyclopedist Arthur Cohn perhaps came closest when he wrote of “a poetic classicism as perfect in its way as Beethoven’s dramatic classicism.”

The wisdom of that observation was apparent Wednesday night, as the 92^nd Street Y offered a rare opportunity to spend an entire evening in Fauré’s company, instead of just hearing his music as an amuse-bouche between heavier fare.

The ensemble billed as “Bell-Isserlis-Denk Trio & Friends” will return to the Y Saturday night with an entirely different all-Fauré program that, judging from Wednesday’s performances, certainly qualifies as a catch-it-if-you-can event.

Violinist Joshua Bell, cellist Steven Isserlis and pianist Jeremy Denk are the latest in a line of star soloists who formed piano trios, dating back through such legendary ensembles as Istomin-Stern-Rose and Heifetz-Feuermann-Rubinstein to Pablo Casals, Jacques Thibaud and Fauré himself.

The esteemed composer, pianist and pedagogue could hardly have asked for more imaginative and tuned-in renditions of his scores than those provided by this threesome and their associates Irène Duval, violin, and Blythe Teh Engstroem, viola, who joined in at program’s close for the Piano Quintet No. 1 in D minor, Op. 89.

Although the realities of the musical marketplace decreed that violinist Bell receive top billing over his slightly lesser-known colleagues, the realities of Romantic chamber music handed the car keys to pianist Denk, who drove the performances with a sure hand. Make that two hands—a rippling left and an eloquent right that productively engaged his colleagues on nearly every page. (Bell and Denk were longtime duo collaborators for many years.)

Denk’s fluent and colorful playing whetted the appetite for the one piano solo listed on the program, the Barcarolle No. 5 in F-sharp minor; unfortunately, this piece was omitted from the concert without explanation.

But there was no lack of brilliant pianism elsewhere, beginning with Fauré’s very first chamber composition, the Violin Sonata No. 1 in A major, Op. 13, which opened the program. The composer, trained as a church musician, was 32 when he made this first venture into chamber music, and there was nothing unformed or tentative about it. The long, shapely theme bubbled up through a burst of ripples, first in the piano, then in Bell’s elegant violin. Spontaneity rather than sonata form ruled the first movement. One could hear a new, specifically French path being charted for chamber music.

The piano’s steady, rocking 9/8 rhythm masked unpredictable harmonic twists in the Andante, as Bell stroked out expressive phrases that might have benefited from a more sinuous shape. The witty, biting Scherzo, with its ghostly reprise, left Mendelssohn and Schumann behind in favor of a foretaste of Les Six. The playful finale, with its tune in dotted rhythm and sprays of piano notes, was full of characteristic Fauré touches, such as piano chords played on the off beats, lively banter between the instruments, and a crisp, no-nonsense coda.

Omitting the Barcarolle, the program leaped ahead 46 years to Fauré’s next-to-last chamber composition, the Piano Trio in D minor, Op. 120. The composer in his 70s was still unmistakably himself, spinning out piano-driven textures but with tighter workmanship. Bell and Isserlis listened closely and responded to each other and to Denk, building momentum through the first movement.

Denk’s sensuously voiced chords supported taut, rising lines in cello and violin as the Andantino explored moods from ethereal to vibrant. A syncopated compound meter kept the capricious finale dancing to Denk’s light touch, with Bell and Isserlis very much in on the joke, until a typical Fauré sudden finish.

After intermission, the program paused for two melodious miniatures, reminders of Fauré’s mastery as a song composer. Isserlis joined Denk in tender renditions of the Sicilienne, Op. 78, which owes its fame to its melancholy modal melody and its inclusion in Balanchine’s ballet Emeralds, and the Berceuse, Op. 16. In the Y’s intimate hall, Isserlis showed the many shades of emotion he could convey in pianissimo and sub-pianissimo.

In contrast, the combination of a piano and a string quartet brings thoughts of orchestral textures and robust counterpoint. But as Aaron Grad pointed out in his perceptive program notes, Fauré’s Piano Quintet No. 1 in D minor, Op. 89, gravitated toward a sort of enhanced sonata texture, with the four stringed instruments playing in unison or octaves as a single super instrument standing up to the piano. Unison playing is effective sonically, but challenging to the players; maintaining that texture for most of the first movement over Denk’s rippling piano, Wednesday’s quartet was a model of passionate playing in tune.

The Adagio had more the character of an energetic moderato, as the piano led with spurting phrases and instrumental dialogue became more contrapuntal. All the players combined to squeeze every ounce of expression from the circling, never-landing harmonies.

The piano introduced the finale’s zesty, meandering theme in octaves (fifteenths actually). The keyboard then took turns with the strings working variations on it, passacaglia fashion but not as serious as that, daringly chromatic and witty right up to the sudden accelerando coda. This truly was chamber music the French way, and the audience loved it.

The Bell-Isserlis-Denk Trio & Friends conclude their all-Fauré series 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the 92^nd Street Y. 92ny.org