Imeldas Trio Polishes Collection Of Music

Imeldas Friday, June 7, The Met

Back in college when a fellow student gave a recital about which there was nothing else nice to say, what we did say was: “Nice shoes.”

The Imeldas trio, which appeared with the Spokane String Quartet Friday night at The Met, inspired the aforementioned comment in spite of the fact there was no lack of nice things to say about the group’s music.

The Imeldas group is composed of pianist Linda Siverts, oboist Susan Laney Spector and horn player Margaret Wilds, who are also closet footwear fanatics. Each put her best instrumental foot forward in collaboration with the SSQ, and then the trio played some fancy ensemble footwork together.

The concert opened with Spector performing Mozart’s Oboe Quartet in F major. Her oboe sound was sweet and woody, and her playing exhibited consummate control and refinement.

Spector took the scream out of the oboe’s upper reaches and executed high notes, awkward skips and quick runs with ease. Some shoddy intonation from the strings brought down the level of music making.

The Piano Quintet, Op. 57, by Shostakovich was the heaviest work on the program. Not much of an ear-bender compared to his other works, it still required some listener involvement to stay with it.

The audience was rewarded with Shostakovich at his most warm - fun without being sarcastic or snide.

Siverts got a toehold on this “simple” writing for the piano, sustaining the intensity of single-note lines well and having fun with the lumbering bass lines, especially the heavy-footed bear dance in the Scherzo movement.

Wilds gave the Cherubini Sonata all the musicality the piece deserves, and more. It is basically a romping showpiece, with lots of arpeggios and scales.

Accuracy is the horn-player’s nemesis in selections such as this, but Wilds nailed the treacherous passages with a clear sound to boot.

The official end of the program was Reinecke’s Trio for Oboe, Horn and Piano. Each Imelda contributed a beautiful sound to a mix that is not often exploited.

Easy phrasing, comfortable control, subdued musicality and natural communication made this chamber music an interactive experience that healed the soul.

The Imeldas kicked in an encore, the footloose Promenade by Gershwin, used as the dog-walking theme for Fred and Ginger in “Shall We Dance.”