Tonight I wanted to go hear Finnish art songs, but I had tickets to see the Montrose Piano Trio with my good friend, so I stuck with that. I'm glad I did. It was phenomenal playing, rendered with cogent stucture, clarity and warmth. The pianist in this trio is the always-wonderful (and powerful) Jon Kimura Parker, and the string players come from the Tokyo String Quartet, so yeah...

The program:

1. Haydn, piano trio in E-flat Major, Hob. XV: 29

   Though sweet, this was full of interest and clever turns — not a lightweight piece.

2. Shostakovich, piano trio in E Minor, Op. 67

   I fear a kind of inflated, over-serious, over-emphasized playing I've heard with Shostakovich, but none of that happened here. This was tight!

3. Brahms, piano trio #1 in B Major, Op. 8 (1889 version)

   Gawd was this wonderful.