"Autumn" - Trio Noga performs works of Piazzolla, Mozart, Martinu, Marion Bauer and Yechiam Marx

 

Trio Noga:Shira Shaked,Orit Messer-Jacobi,Idit Shemer (Tammy Bezaleli)

If timing is the essence of music, the appearance of cool, drizzly weather on November 14th 2025 created the perfect background for "Autumn", Trio Noga's opening event of the 2025-2026 concert season. The concert took place at St. Andrew's Scots Memorial Church, Jerusalem. Established in 2015, Trio Noga's members are Idit Shemer-flute, Orit Messer-Jacobi-'cello and Shira Shaked-piano. The ensemble aims to offer its audiences a fresh approach to familiar repertoire, at the same time, introducing them to new- and rarely-performed works. 

 

 The event got off to a brisk start with "Autumn" from "The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires", composed by Ástor Piazzolla in 1970. One of Argentina’s most gifted and prolific composers, Piazzolla wrote the four movements of "Cuatro Estaciones Porteñas" between 1965 and 1970 for his tango instrumental quintet (violin, piano, electric guitar, bass and bandoneon).  Conceived as separate pieces (Piazzolla occasionally performed them together) the composer wished to draw attention to the work’s relevance to the city’s inhabitants and to life in its poor streets where the Argentinean tango was born.  "Autumn", symbolically, appears as the first piece of the set. The Trio Noga players gave polished, spontaneous expression to the fast flow of the piece's high-spirited, compelling immediacy, then to its wistful, often-melancholy flute and 'cello interludes, taking the listener off guard with the rush of unexpected changes in dynamics and tempi. Producing Piazzolla's kaleidoscope of raw, harsh dissonances juxtaposed to sudden consonant passages, their well-chiselled playing displayed unmistakable Argentinean flair. Works of Piazzolla will feature in all Trio Noga's concerts this season. 

 

 In a letter of June 1788 to his friend Michael Puchberg, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote: "When are we to have a little musical party at your house again? I have composed a new trio!".  Mozart was referring to the Piano Trio in E major K. 542 (scored for violin, 'cello and piano). Indeed, the composer, now at the very height of his powers, thought so highly of K.542 that he played it at the Dresden court in 1789 when seeking employment there. The Trio Noga performance was imbued with spontaneity and freshness, lyricism, warmth and refinement. In the trios Mozart composed between 1786 and 1788, the piano dominates: Shira Shaked's clean, lively touch and musicality made for delightful listening, with Idit Shemer's fine tone and melodic shaping exploring the splendid opportunities of Mozart's new-found freedom. Orit Messer-Jacobi offered elegant support to the piano’s left-hand lines, only sometimes emerging from the bass line duties Mozart relegated to the 'cello. The balance between the three instruments was beautifully handled. I enjoyed the opportunity of hearing the K.542 Trio, a work containing some of the composer's sunniest and most relaxed music. Sadly, Mozart’s piano trios are not performed as frequently as Haydn’s, despite them being among his finest chamber works.

Then to a work of Marion Eugénie Bauer. The American-born Jewish composer was an eminent figure on the American musical scene of the first half of the 20th century.  A writer and lecturer on music history in general and on 20th century music in particular, she was respected in her own day for her advocacy for American composers, her musical scholarship reviving interest in often-overlooked female composers. A member of numerous musical societies (often the only woman among men) and music critic for The Musical Leader magazine, she was also the first woman on the faculty of New York University. Experimenting with dissonance, serialism, and complex harmonies, her compositions were both hailed and criticized for their complexity and modernist qualities. Bauer's Trio Sonata, Op. 40, for flute, 'cello, and piano (1944) integrates Parisian Impressionistic influences, blues harmonies and traditional American music. (Messer-Jacobi suggested that the work's title might refer to the interaction between players of the Baroque trio sonata.) Shemer, Messer-Jacobi and Shaked gave articulate, subtle and imaginative expression to this charming, approachable work, highlighting the uplifting majestic qualities of the opening movement (Allegretto commodo) and the lyrical, pensive mood of the   Andante espressivo that followed. As to the final movement, the players presented its colourful line-up of American dances with foot-tapping rhythmic precision and buoyant textures, signing out with the wink of an eye! 

Also written in the USA in 1944 was the Trio for Flute, Violoncello and Piano by Bohemian composer Bohuslav Martinů, albeit under different circumstances. Having escaped to New York from Nazi-occupied Paris in 1941, it was while at a retreat in the Connecticut countryside that Martinů wrote this trio. At the Jerusalem concert, the artists conveyed the music's positive holiday spirit, the work bearing the hallmark of the composer’s distinctive musical language - rich harmonies and tonal colours, as well as touches of jazz- and Czech folk rhythms. Following their reading of the first movement (Poco allegretto), one giving prominence to Martinů's rich palette of ideas, to rhythmic inventiveness and wit, which they performed in scintillating timbres, the Adagio (a favourite among the three artists) was eloquent, introspective, richly melodic in expression, also imbued with the yearning heard in much of Martinů's music. The Adagio seemed to take one back to the autumnal theme of the concert. Introduced by a sombre flute solo, the third movement then bursts into an effervescent scherzando, brimming with good cheer and punctuated with some calmer moments. This is a splendid concert piece, one challenging to performers and delightsome to the listener. 

The final work on the program was "Double Nocturno", a short piece by Israeli educator/ arranger/composer Yechiam Marx. Taking inspiration from the lullaby "Layla, layla" (music: Mordechai Zeira, lyrics: Nathan Altermann), the lyrical tone poem was tranquil, cantabile and richly scored, with phrases and associations of the song subtly woven in and out of the lush instrumental fabric. Marx composed "Double Nocturno" for Trio Noga.

But that wasn't all. To conclude the event, the artists performed Piazzolla's "Autumn" once more, an explicitly bold reminder of life in the streets of Buenos Aires, whose people address the gamut of their emotions as they live the moment.