The concert began with Dvořák, a composer who was clear with his desires in all his compositions. He placed extreme attention to detail and often riddled his works with dynamic, tempo and phrase markings.

Timo-Veike Valve. Photograph © Jussi Sippola

The Dvořák F minor Piano Trio, although often overshadowed by its more popular sibling The Dumky Trio was a work I highly anticipated. Sadly, its performance left an irreparably bitter aftertaste. There were moments of pure brilliancy in tone and musicality, however those moments were heavily masked by the lack of ensemble congruency, major tempo fluctuations and blatant mistakes present in the piano which was occasionally masked by a pedal overuse. Specifically, the tempo fluctuations were the greatest problems. In movements two and three there were many instances of it becoming dangerously too fast, saved only by the musicians’ individual prowess. The opening two bars before the piano entry with the melody in movement two, saw a burst of speed that did not entirely settle until the piano entered. The meno mosso (less movement) section in the same movement was much faster than the opening tempo. And in sections leading up to the climactic...