Lin and Brahms are an inspiration at SummerFest

Cho-Liang Lin. Photo Paul Body.
Cho-Liang Lin. Photo Paul Body.

La Jolla Music Society SummerFest

When: Continues through Aug. 24


Admission: $45-$75

Phone: (858) 459-3728


Is there a more remarkable piece of music than Brahms’ Piano Trio No. 1 in B Major? It’s a work he wrote when he was 20, and then rewrote when he was nearly 60. Listening to violinist Cho-Liang Lin, cellist Gary Hoffman and pianist Jon Kimura Parker’s inspired performance Wednesday in a SummerFest program at Sherwood Auditorium that also included the ensemble’s exceptional performances of Brahms other two piano trios, it was as if you could hear Brahms growing up, maturing right before your ears.

Whereas the other two trios in C Major and C Minor, written when he was in his 50s, begin with a dense, dark thicket of notes, the B Major starts in the sunlight, with the cello soon stating a theme that is not so far removed from Schubert in its lyrical nature. But in the specific way it is shaped, its pitch content, and its slightly wistful mood, that theme seems to contain the compositional DNA that would shape a lifetime of music to come.

But we don’t have to wait a lifetime, or find another piece by Brahms to see how things turn out. Before long the violin joins the cello and the piano and the music starts to get darker and increasingly complex before returning once again to the light.

It goes back and forth, as if the young Brahms and the old Brahms are in some kind of cosmic tug of war. Resistance to age, of course, is futile, but ultimately the conflict is resolved not in favor of resignation, but acceptance.

Lin, Hoffman and Parker played with the technical assurance that comes from careful preparation, the unanimity that comes from a shared approach to the music, the commitment that has always been LIN’s hallmark, and the wisdom that comes with the realization that this is not just a piece of music, not just notes on the page, but something alive, something that still speaks an elemental human truth after more than a century and will continue speaking as long as human beings continue to make music.

Brahms, young or old, loves the sound of the cello, and the B Major provides not just that opening theme, but repeated opportunities for the cellist to be Brahms primary advocate. Hoffman made the most of those opportunities, playing with both eloquence and assertiveness when necessary, even as his ego seemed to vanish into the music.

Parker, who was pure ego in his treatment of Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances in the SummerFest opening concert more than two weeks ago, also gave in completely to the music. At times he played so soft you had to strain to hear him before suddenly erupting in a series of thundering chords, as Brahms (and Parker) struggled against the darkness.

Like his colleagues, an extremely focused Lin did whatever was necessary to lift the music off the page and bring it to life.

Even the audience seemed a part of the performance, as the crowd that filled Sherwood to capacity was unusually attentive before bursting out in well-deserved and enthusiastic applause at the end.

When everything is working, is there anything more remarkable than music? • Twitter: @sdutchute • Facebook:


