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Z.E.N. Trio bring ethereal ambience to Babajanian, Laing and Dvorak at Perth Concert Hall for Musica Viva

Headshot of David Cusworth
David CusworthThe West Australian
Z.E.N. Trio - pianist Zhang Zuo, violinist Esther Yoo and cellist Narek Hakhnazaryan - play at Perth Concert Hall for Musica Viva.
Camera IconZ.E.N. Trio - pianist Zhang Zuo, violinist Esther Yoo and cellist Narek Hakhnazaryan - play at Perth Concert Hall for Musica Viva. Credit: Clinton Bradbury

Three young virtuosi offered a fresh take on a time-honoured formula when Z.E.N Trio took the Concert Hall stage on Monday night for Musica Viva.

Clarity of tone and expression from pianist Zhang Zuo (Z), violinist Esther Yoo (E) and cellist Narek Hakhnazaryan (N) brought an ethereal ambience to works by Armenian Arno Babajanian, Musica Viva Australia “Future Maker” Matthew Laing, and Czech Antonin Dvorak.

Babajanian’s Piano Trio in F-sharp minor opened in solemn, meditative strings somewhere between liturgical chant and funeral dirge, before breaking out through cello to violin to piano in Rachmaninov-like romance.

Violin chimed back in with harmonics over rippling piano, subsiding to recombine with cello in sophisticated yet simple tunes.

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“E” applied a delicate touch, especially in earthy-yet-feather-light vibrato, “N” was ever expressive, and “Z” a perpetuum mobile, all achieving separation without alienation — a very Zen quality — and a perfectly synched final pizzicato.

Soft chords and gossamer-like violin harmonics opened the second movement, the sparse yet eloquent melody and harmony a pin-drop moment. Violin faded to near silence before reinforcement by emotive cello, the duo then swapping phrases over rolling piano. Operatic intensity rose and fell back to the calm of the opening, with an exquisitely romantic climax full or respect, almost reverence.

Breaking to drama for the finale, melody scurried across the trio to find turbulence in piano chords, copied in strings, before channelling again the romantic warmth of the first stanza in rhythms just as challenging.

All three seemed engrossed, with minimal yet minutely judged cross-references; Zhang taking the anchor role and co-ordinating jump cuts in the ebb and flow through to a rollicking conclusion.

Matt Laing, Future Maker.
Camera IconMatt Laing, Future Maker. Credit: Clinton Bradbury /

Laing next introduced his world premiere, Little Cataclysms, as five pieces in “small timeframes”.

Opening plangently in piano, string harmonics descended down the octaves to a crowded soundscape in mid-register; rising again to the edge of space and falling away.

Urgent piano repetition in the second stanza, echoed in strings, introduced angular figures across the group. Unconventional in tone, it matched Babajanian in rhythmic vigour, with an irresolute cadence part of the spell.

Mystery in the third stanza was met by energetic flurries to keep the listener off-balance and attentive; clarity and the confidence of youth sustaining the trio in unfamiliar territory.

For the fourth stanza, contemplative lines in strings over refined piano sallies resolved, paradoxically, in discord, before another jump cut to the finale.

Piano wandered the upper octaves to summon cello harmonics and violin harmony, fading then returning, carillon-like, before descending to mystery again; enticing to the last.

After the interval, Dvorak’s more familiar style rang out in the Piano Trio No. 4 in E minor “Dumky”, the title a reference to a “notion” or a ballad, of which this work contains six.

Mellow cello burst out, cooling to melancholic violin then recombining in counterpoint; a delicate pause then an eruption of colour and movement in Slavonic dance.

Hallmark mood swings came thick and fast, each a vignette of light, shade, or both.

Darkly meditative cello with violin overtones threw to piano soliloquy and back to strings; perhaps a “musical switch” or “medley” would capture the structure but the texture was emphatically Slavonic – folkloric solos and ensemble passages following like dancers in a rustic romp.

Z.E.N. Trio; pianist Zhang Zuo, violinist Esther Yoo and cellist Narek Hakhnazaryan.
Camera IconZ.E.N. Trio; pianist Zhang Zuo, violinist Esther Yoo and cellist Narek Hakhnazaryan. Credit: Clinton Bradbury /

A cello cadenza marked a reset before restive lamentation in piano settled in rivulets of sound beneath barely-there violin; mixing and repeating before returning to dance, rich and flowing.

A piano fanfare next summoned a languorous echo in strings before a minor key dance led in another soulful string duet.

A canon-like fourth stanza oscillating between drama and tragedy found relief again in dance; at times metronomic, and at others rich in rubato.

Florid piano chords and cello melody with pizzicato violin marked another switch; subsiding then rising again to celebrate, tears and cheers mingling in country style.

Finally, strident piano chords gave way to mellifluous strings, kaleidoscopic in tone, rhythm and dynamics rather like the uncertain weather; going out in a blaze of sunshine.

In encore, Brahms’ Hungarian Dance No.6 gave a more formal statement of the same sentiments, with a dash of bravado to finish.

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