Review: Schubert Club's International Artist Series opens with masterful piano, cello and violin trio

"Supergroup" is a term tossed about quite liberally among rock fans. Pull three musicians together who are known for their work with other bands and — voila! — you have a "supergroup." But it's far rarer in classical music.

For example, you don't often find a violinist, cellist and pianist — each renowned as a soloist with a schedule full of concertos with the world's major symphony orchestras — connecting up for a tour together, playing chamber music written for the combination of their three instruments. If the chemistry's right, it could potentially make for the best interpretations of the piano trio repertoire you'll ever experience.

And there's a good chance that Tuesday evening's concert at St. Paul's Ordway Music Theater will be looked back upon as that for many in attendance. On stage were two Frenchmen — pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet and cellist Gautier Capuçon — as well as Georgia-born, Germany-based violinist Lisa Batiashvili. Together, they opened the Schubert Club's International Artist Series season by collaborating on what will go down as marvelously memorable.

It was the midpoint of a nine-city U.S. tour that stretches from California to Carnegie Hall, each concert featuring piano trios by Joseph Haydn, Maurice Ravel and Felix Mendelssohn that surely grow crisper by the night. But the chemistry among the threesome was already in full flower on Tuesday, their shared vision for the works coming through clearly and the musicianship simply magnificent.

By beginning with a late Haydn trio, Thibaudet, Batiashvili and Capuçon were able to ease the ample audience at the Ordway into a playful spirit, the violinist and cellist's strings plucked with smiles while Thibaudet's fingers danced across the keys. Dark shadows soon emerged in the middle movement, but a boisterous finale assured the audience that the musicians were in unshakable agreement that this should be some very happy Haydn.

Yet one work stood out as such a masterful interpretation as to be considered one of the great local chamber music performances thus far this century: Ravel's A-Minor Piano Trio was made so deeply engrossing that the entire crowd seemed coaxed to the edge of their seats. The opening movement was haunting enough to bring chills, especially when the strings whispered in their highest register while Thibaudet thundered out a menacing bass line.

But there was also more lighthearted banter among the instruments on the ensuing "Pantoum," only to have the sense of menace return on the third movement, Capuçon offering a sad solo of resignation before Batiashvili brought forth a powerful tone of hope. The three musicians combined to give the music an anguished feel before engaging in a colloquy full of thunderous drama on the finale.

The concert's second half was given over to Mendelssohn's Second Piano Trio, which brought heart-on-sleeve romanticism to the program. The first movement became an adventurous chase, the second a wonderful showcase for Thibaudet's tender touch. In fact, the pianist seemed to be doing most of the evening's heavy lifting until the Mendelssohn Scherzo arrived. That's when Batiashvili and Capuçon began wowing us with digital pyrotechnics, fleetly flying around on their instruments in tightly synchronized rhythms.

The finale underlined the trio's brilliant collaborative skills, smoothly segueing from stormy to contemplative and back. It earned an almost instant standing ovation, and the "supergroup" offered an encore of similar high-energy spirit in a movement from Antonín Dvořák's "Dumky" Piano Trio. And super it was.

Rob Hubbard is a Twin Cities classical music writer. Reach him at wordhub@yahoo.com.