Trio Casals
Navona, 2020
8/10
This 5th installment of Navona Record’s MOTO series brings us 8 new works from 8 exciting composers, as Trio Casals, i.e. Sylvia Ahramjian, Ovidiu Marinescu and Anna Kislitsyna flesh out the varied effort.
“Earth Rise” starts the listen with quiet keys from Kislitsyna and emotive violin from Ahramjian interacting together in an ethereal setting, and “Los Ritmos Para Tres (Rhythms For Three)” follows with a more forceful display of rollicking rhythm and exploratory instrumentation.
Elsewhere, “Sunt Numai Urechi (I’m All Ears)” is inspired by flamenco guitar and comes with a sturdy execution of cello by Marinescu, while “Glacier Blue” is divided into 3 parts where the cello is highlighted with its sublime and expressive delivery. “Palette No. 2”, one of the best of the best, finds a busy place to reside with tumbling keys, aching strings and rhumba nods in the lush atmosphere.
At the end, “Grisailles Vaporeuses”, also in 3 parts, recruits a nature influenced theme where dramatic and glorious landscapes are traversed with incredible interaction between the trio.
Those who embrace classical sounds will find much to adore here, as the 8 composers offer us accomplished song craft that’s handled exquisitely with Trio Casals on another must hear chapter of the MOTO series
Travels well with: Patrick Yim- Memory; Elliott Miles McKinley- Shadow Dancer