The Ghost Piano Trio: subtlety and musical rapport
The Ghost Piano Trio (from left) Ken Ichinose (cello), Monique Lapins (violin), and Gabriela Glapska (piano)
Image credit: Chamber Music New Zealand
The seventh concert of the Ghost Piano Trio’s current national tour for Chamber Music New Zealand took them to Waikanae on Sunday. Violinist Monique Lapins, cellist Ken Ichinose and pianist Gabriela Glapska opened a thoughtfully curated programme with Takemitsu’s dreamy, French-influenced Between Tides, a lovely choice for the coastal community, performed with meditative care.
Beethoven’s “Ghost” Trio was next, the work from which the ensemble borrowed their name. This tour is the first time they’ve played it since their formation in 2019, and it showed off the qualities of these fine musicians, their collective subtlety of interpretation, wonderful attention to detail and marvellously coherent ensemble work. The central slow movement was played with reverent care and sustained tension, the final Presto almost gleeful in its energetic, crisp dash for the finish.
The Ghost Piano Trio in Waikanae
“…a thoughtfully curated programme.”
Image credit: Waikanae Music Society
New Zealand composer Glen Downie was in the audience for his engaging new work, Sonata da chiesa, premiered on this tour. Although at first inspired by Vivaldi’s cello sonatas and the form of sonata da chiesa, the work ranges far from Baroque influences. It’s a well-integrated, witty four-movement exploration with rich textural and timbral variety, energetic pizzicato outbursts, slidy microtones, whimsical counterpoint and hints of jazz. It is a great vehicle for showing off the individual talents of the ensemble.
Composer Glen Downie
“…an integrated, witty work with rich textural and timbral variety.”
It also proved an interesting foil for Shostakovich’s 2nd Piano Trio which ended the programme. This is, at least in the first movement, Shostakovich in neoclassical mode. The opening solo cello melody, played with high register harmonics, becomes a fugal texture of marvellous contrapuntal clarity. The bitingly dissonant scherzo of the 2nd movement is a cheerful dance on the surface, but darker emotions simmer underneath.
The work acknowledged the sudden death of Shostakovich’s close friend, musicologist Ivan Ivanovich Sollertinsky, and the third movement is a grief-laden funeral march, sobbing string solos over a passacaglia theme in the piano. This movement was played at Shostakovich’s own funeral in 1975.
The Jewish melody of the final Allegretto will seem familiar to those who know the composer’s popular 8th String Quartet, where he used it again in another work full of passionate grief. Over throbbing repetitive pizzicato, the tune is woven here with other Russian folk material, bringing the audience to the edge of their seats and the work to a compelling conclusion.
The members of the Ghost Trio are all highly accomplished chamber musicians who’ve cemented a lovely rapport and unanimity of musical purpose over their years together. They will complete their tour with concerts in Upper Hutt, Napier and Wellington, replacing the Shostakovich Trio with Ravel’s Piano Trio in A minor in Upper Hutt and Napier.
The Ghost Piano Trio, touring for Chamber Music New Zealand, performed for the Waikanae Music Society on August 3, 2025. Upcoming concerts are in Upper Hutt (7 August), Napier (14 August) and Wellington (17 August). More information and booking details here.