Press

“A spill-over crowd gathered to hear the Aspen String Trio play an all-Beethoven program Sunday afternoon. The Aspen players -- violinist David Perry, violist Victoria Chiang, cellist Michael Mermagen -- demonstrated tight ensemble playing, spot-on intonation and an effective way of digging into a phrase. There was plenty of drama and warmth in the C minor Trio, Op. 9, No. 3. The mix of lyricism and muscle the musicians brought to the G major Trio, Op. 9, No. 1, proved even more impressive; the irresistible, whirling finale -- you can really sense Beethoven showing off here -- was delivered with particular panache" Tim Smith, Baltimore Sun music critic Perry, Chiang and Mermagen returned after intermission for the first movement of an otherwise incomplete string trio by Franz Schubert dating from about 20 years after the Beethoven serenade that opened the concert. Like that work, it was written very early in its creator's career (Schubert was 19). This Allegro in B-flat was similarly attractive and unexceptional - until it broke wide open at the beginning of the development section and blossomed into wonderfully characteristic Schubertian harmonic adventures that tugged the heartstrings all over again. Great thanks go to the Aspen musicians for letting us hear this rarity.

The first movement's shifting moods were expressed with equal fervor by all, interweaving especially the strength and beauty of Chiang's viola with the suavity of Perry's violin. The work's second movement was the weightiest and most moving of the whole evening, both in cellist Mermagen's subtle and sensitive solo, which starts it off and in the passionate outbursts that continue it. The Des Moines Register It was a pleasure to hear the rock-solid intonation of violinist Dave Perry, and the fluidity with which violist Victoria Chang and cellist Michael Mermagen brought out the inner voices of Brahms' counterpoint without losing the overall arc (with pianist Rita Sloan). Harvey Steiman, The Aspen Times Perry, Chiang and Mermagen tapped remarkable lyrical strengths in Beethoven's G major String Trio, Op. 9, No. 1, and tore into its finale with great panache. Tim Smith, Baltimore Sun music Critic Perry and Chiang, as they would throughout the evening, had continual brisk attacks as needed, and the most lyrical of string sounds in the slower movements.

Besides his "Unfinished Symphony," Schubert left a few other works incomplete. After intermission, the three string players performed the allegro movement (the only one completed) of the Trio for Violin, Viola and Cello, D471. As the composer would have wanted, the melody poured out with beauty and vigor. The effect was notably enhanced by the tone of Perry's violin. New-Times Music Correspondent, Danbury, CT …one of the finest, most fully realized performances of this work that I can remember. Their impeccable phrasing, crisp attacks, and near-Germanic warm passion for this music was always in evidence, as was their drive for perfection (with pianist Rita Sloan). The Washington Times, Washington D.C. Gideon Klein…this inventive piece well deserved the warm, lively, human interpretation it received at the skilled hands of the talented trio…The players gave their all, and one felt a release in the power of the music that enveloped all the lucky listeners. James F. Cotter, the Times Herald-Record, Newburgh, NY