The Busch Trio brought the best out of Romantic masterworks
Friends of Chamber Music bring the world’s best chamber music to Vancouver. On October 13, Friends gathered to hear the return of the exciting and powerful Busch Trio from Amsterdam. This trio of pianist Omri Epstein, violinist Mathieu van Bellen, and cellist Ori Epstein (yes, the pianist and cellist are brothers) had promised us a weighty Romantic feast of Eastern European music: Antonín Dvořák’s Piano Trio No. 4 in E Minor, Opus 90 “Dumky”, first played in 1891, and Piotr Tchaikovsky’s Piano Trio in A Minor, Opus 50, that premiered in 1882.
This musical group delivered on their promise.
From 1950 to now, Friends have heard Dvořák’s Dumky trio 14 times, three of those times played by the Beaux Arts Trio – one of our most popular visiting groups until their retirement in 2008. Turns out that cellist Ori Epstein studied with both Bernard Greenhouse, the Beaux Arts Trio cellist from 1954 to 1987 (and whose own teachers included superstar Pablo Casals), and with Antonio Meneses, the Beaux Arts Trio cellist from 1998 to 2008. Not only that, but Ori played this concert in Vancouver using the same bow that both Greenhouse and Meneses had used when playing the Dumky trio in Vancouver with the Beaux Arts Trio decades ago.
History aside, the Busch Trio gave an engrossing and very persuasive modern reading of this emotional music. The composer built his work out of six Dumkys, alternating Ukrainian dirges and dances that had been adopted into the Bohemian/ Czech folk-music world. Combining refined balance and nuance with surging pointed rhythms, and at times keening power, the three instrumentalists conveyed powerful emotions while holding to the overarching structure of the music. The idiom of this music felt effortless to these master musicians.
Tchaikovsky’s Piano Trio was the only other piece on the programme, because to play it takes roughly 50 minutes. Even though this music premiered 144 years ago, this was its first performance for Friends in Vancouver. Not only is the duration long, the music demands great virtuosity and stamina from the musicians, especially the pianist. Again, the Busch Trio handled the musical demands, from emotional climaxes to refined quiet passages, with incredible aplomb. When the music finished with a dark, quiet repeating figure trailing into silence, that attentive quiet poised listening continued almost 20 seconds before the audience erupted with a jubilant ovation.
Before leaving the Vancouver Playhouse, more than a handful of our regular audience members asked us to book another concert with the Busch Trio in an upcoming season. And we were happy to learn that the musicians were playing concerts in Edmonton and Kelowna after this Vancouver appearance.
In our more immediate future, we hope you will join the Friends to welcome the Terra String Quartet, 2025 Naumberg Chamber Music Competition winners, who will play for us on Tuesday, November 17th, 2026.
