Cohesive chamber trio performs with power
“The small audience that braved the snow Friday night for the Nordica Trio concert at the University of Southern Maine’s Corthell Hall in Gorham was rewarded with one of the best chamber music performances this winter. I would call it a jewel, except that the word implies smallness, and the trio, augmented by French horn player John Boden, had a surprisingly powerful dynamic range.
This was particularly evident in the last work of the evening, the great Brahms “Trio for Piano, Violin and Horn,” Opus 40, played by Boden, violinist Graybert Beacham and pianist Yuri Funahashi. The playing was little short of inspired, and led to a well-deserved standing ovation. Beacham and Boden exploited Brahm’s harmonic sweetness to its full extent, but the crowning achievement was the trio’s near-perfect coordination of tempo, volume and intonation. Couple that with real passion and enthusiasm, and one has a performance to remember. The melodic adagio was outstanding and the rapid repeated horn notes of the finale were executed in virtuoso style.”
– Christopher Hyde
Maine Sunday Telegram
Nordica Trio performs flawlessly
“Both the individual playing and the total ensemble were virtually flawless in every work, no matter how difficult. Better still, the musical character of each was shaped with taste and imagination.”
– Christopher Hyde
Portland Press Herald
USM faculty recital allows violist to shine
“So it was a pleasure to hear Graybert Beacham splendidly play this maligned instrument at his USM faculty recital in Gorham Friday night. In three works spanning two centuries, Beacham demonstrated agility, accuracy and good musical sense, all to deft piano accompaniment by Yuri Funahashi.
This duo is two thirds of the Nordica Trio. From fine musicians in a long performing association with each other, good things might well be expected, and the audience in Corthell Hall was not disappointed.
In Henry Eccles’ down-to-earth English baroque sonata, Beacham gave us a stately Largo whose gravity rose to pathos and a vigorous shake in its miniature cadenza, followed by a brisk Corrente accented by feather-light rolled chords to open its phrases and a flurry of double stops to end.”
– Nick Humez
Portland Press Herald
USM faculty recital exudes excitement
”The Nordica Trio—Graybert Beacham (violin), Karen Beacham (clarinet) and Yuri Funahashi—gave an exciting performance of four sonatas from three centuries Friday night.
Their faculty recital at the University of Southern Maine drew a near-capacity audience to Corthell Hall on the Gorham campus, and the crowd loved what it heard.”
“Karen Beacham plays wonderfully: now velvet-smooth, now agile.”
Speaking of the Brahms Sonata for Violin and Piano in D minor, the reviewer wrote the following:
“This sonata demanded consummate technique and control from both violinist and pianist, and they delivered handsomely. Tension built through the final two movements to a climax which drew loud applause and two curtain calls, with Karen Beacham returning to the stage for the last long hand”
– Nick Humez
Portland Press Herald