The Chronicle Herald (Halifax, NS)
What’sHap, Thursday, April 2, 2015, p. D3
Trio Arkaede Tour de France (Leaf Music); Pick of the Week
Classical, or orchestral, music doesn’t always get its fair share ofattention in this space, but it’s always a treat when an East Coast recording of note in this vein comes across my desk, and Tour de France by New Brunswick’s Trio Arkaede, on the Halifax label Leaf Music, hits on a lot of my melodic pleasure centres.
The country of origin of the trio’s selections is obvious in thetitle, with an emphasis on the early half of the 20th century, a period of great change extending from Mel Bonis’s sprightly Suite en Trio, Op. 59 to the dreamy expressionism of Claude Debussy’s Sonate pour Violon et Piano, L 140.
Sweden-born flautist Karin Aurell, violinist and violist Isabelle Fournier (also principal second violin with Symphony Nova Scotia) and pianist Julien LeBlanc revel in the era’s diversity, and perform with a great deal of mutual sympathy, especially on a piece like Reynaldo Hahn’s Romanesque in C Major, where Aurell and Fournier turn the tonal differences between their instruments to their advantage, and their perfectly synced layersof sound delight the ear.
For more info: www.leaf-music.ca
By Stephen Cooke
Arts Reporter
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