Music Scene
Trio mixes classical elan, a little glam
By Derek Paiva
Advertiser Staff Writer
Eroica.
Andrew Eccles
It's Italian for "heroic" and the name of Beethoven's passionate Third Symphony, known as The Eroica Symphony. But it's also the name of the classical world's supremely talented, innovatively clever and oh-so-glam Eroica Trio, in town this weekend for two concerts with the Honolulu Symphony.
The Eroica Trio is composed of, from left, violinist Adela Pe–a, pianist Erika Nickrenz and cellist Sara Sant'Ambrogio.
"We were looking at names like 'Floristan,' which I always thought sounded like toothpaste," says Eroica violinist Adela Pe–a, recalling the then-newly formed, still-unnamed trio's preparations for its first big gig at New York City's St. Bartholomew Church in 1986. "We had to come up with a name because St. Bart's insisted on having one for the program. We had been toying with 'Eroica' and nobody had any objections toward it, so (Eroica pianist) Erika (Nickrenz) just threw it into the program. We always thought we could change it later." If they only had the time.
When the Eroica Trio — in addition to Pe–a and Nickrenz, cellist Sara Sant'Ambrogio — finally did make the classical "A list" after more than a decade of practicing and gigging, with a critically praised Carnegie Hall debut and accompanying five-album Angel/EMI Classics recording deal, it came as something of a surprise. To everyone but the trio, that is.
"Those early years were a struggle," says Pe–a, 5-month-old son Neal gurgling happily on her lap. "We worked really hard. We did concerts for nothing. We had to run around doing all kinds of other gigs just to make a living. I mean, we were in school still trying to support ourselves."
| Eroica Trio | |
| • | With the Honolulu Symphony |
| • | 7:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday |
| • | Blaisdell Concert Hall |
| • | $15-$55 |
| • | 792-2000 |
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In concert, an evening in the company of Eroica Trio is anything but sedate, with the group fiercely attacking trio-ready compositions such as Shostakovich's Piano Trio No. 2, Brahm's Trio in B and longtime group signature Beethoven's Triple Concerto, the last of which they'll perform as part of their Honolulu concerts.
Speaking from her newly occupied downtown apartment on a surprisingly warm November evening, lifelong New Yorker Pe–a juggles the altogether different needs of a phoning journalist, a curious infant son, and a friend watching over dinner in the oven. Pe–a remains amazingly focused, talkative and personable throughout the 30-minute chat, politely excusing herself on occasion to take care of the competition.
Lifelong friends with equally intensive musical training backgrounds dating back to grade school, the women of Eroica never gave much thought to forming a chamber trio until making it into the prestigious Juilliard School in the mid-1980s.
"Fate had thrown us into all of these different kinds of pairings when we were growing up," says Pe–a. "We all knew each other, we all loved chamber music and we all loved trios. Trios give you a lot of opportunities to be soloists, and we had all had a lot of experience as soloists. But it was Sara's idea to form a trio."
And so, the friends got together one evening and and pored over some famous compositions for trios. "After reading just the exposition of the first movement of Mendelssohn's C Minor Trio, we just knew that this was what we wanted to do. It was just so cool."
In the beginning, the group regularly faced offensively sexist criticism of both their gender and good looks; one concert promoter even told the trio they were too pretty and suggested they add a male to be taken seriously.
"People would say, 'Three girls? What kind of group is that? Can we really take them seriously? Can they play?'" remembers Pe–a. "We had to fight through a lot of that and really prove ourselves. We felt we had to be 150 percent to just not be scoffed at for being women."
Unabated, Eroica continued rehearsing every day, forming a solid touring reputation and winning the classical world's prestigious Naumberg Competition in 1991. The win led to increased national and international performance invitations and, eventually, Carnegie Hall.
"We still practice every day," says Pe–a. "It's getting harder and harder with the babies and all of that, but we usually rehearse a couple of days when we're all in town." Married, with a 7-month-old son named Zachary, Nickrenz lives in New Jersey. Still-single Sant'Ambrogio lives in Manhattan.
Despite having performed Beethoven's Triple Concerto with Eroica enough times over the last decade to commit the incredibly demanding piece firmly in memory, Pe–a finds it difficult not to rave on and on about it.
"It's the best chamber music, such a fantastic piece," says Pe–a, alternately giggling at her baby's fascination with the colored liquid in her wine glass. "Sara says it's like playing a tennis match at Wimbledon while you're surfing the Big Kahuna wave, because you've got the wave of the orchestra behind you, and yet you've got all the delicacy of the three soloists interacting. It's just a wild romp."
