Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Oblivion - Devich Trio

It was negligence on my part. This video should have been highlighted in mid-August when it first appeared. But, better late than never - particularly since it is about to be named Best Piazzolla Video of the Month for August, 2009. It is a performance of Oblivion by the Devich Trio. Its primary competition in the race for "Best" was Milonga for three by the Novosibirsk Pops. I admired that performance for the cleverness and fine craftmanship of the arranger and for the discipline and skill of the orchestra. I admired the Devich Trio's performance of Oblivion for its emotional content. I found myself holding my breath as I watched and listened, insuring that I would miss nothing. The communication between the musicians is intimate - watch their eyes. Music has an intellectual component but a performance which soars does so on the basis of an emotional connection. This performance soars.

The Devich Trio includes Hanna Devich on piano, Sarah Oates on violin and Jasper Havelaar on cello. They are from Hungary, South Africa and the Netherlands, respectively, but are currently all resident in the Netherlands. As individuals they are all prize winning musians and as a trio, they are increasing in stature in the world of chamber music. They have several recordings including Tango Romances which is primarily devoted to the music of Piazzolla.

As mentioned before in this blog, Oblivion was written for Marco Bellocchio's 1984 movie, Enrico IV. The arrangement played by the trio is by José Bragato who no doubt should share some of the credit for the success of this performance.

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To learn more about Piazzolla videos, visit the Piazzolla Video site.

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