It may be winter on the other side of the hemisphere, but the UK’s Eimer Piano Trio are experiencing Australia’s famous sunny weather. In Melbourne for the prestigious Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition (MICMC), the trio – Nicola Eimer (piano), Matthew Denton (violin) and Emma Denton (cello) – stroll through the manicured – and distinctly British-looking – grounds of one of Melbourne University’s residential colleges, chatting about the great restaurants and shopping the city has to offer.
As we lounge on massive leather couches in the college’s communal area, I ask the trio about their performance the previous day. Not always the easiest question, considering artists are often their own harshest critics.
‘It’s sometimes hard to tell, when you are so involved,’ Eimer reflects. ‘It’s hard to be… objective about it. You can kind of think that you really enjoyed it…But we keep changing our minds and remembering things that weren’t so good…[to] thinking it was OK.’
The group would find out later that evening, however, that they had in fact made it through to the second round with their renditions of Brahms Piano Trio in B Major and Haydyn’s Trio in C Major.
In stage 2 – which required groups to perform a romantic, a contemporary and a work of their choice – the trio performed Beethoven’s Piano Trio in D major, OP 70 No 1, John McCabe’s Desert 111: Landscape for piano trio (1982), and Dvorak’s Dumky for piano trio, Op 90. As this article is published, the trio will be preparing for the announcement this evening of those competitors who will progress to the finals this weekend.
This is the fourth MICMC, which takes place every four years. This year, 20 piano trios and string quartets – a total of 70 young musicians – have descended on the Australian city to take part in the event.
The Eimer Trio was the only group from the UK selected to compete in the international competition, a process which involved an MICMC panel travelling around the world to hold live auditions for some 60 finalists, who made the cut after submitting entries on video.
The Eimer Trio has been playing together since forming in 1995 at the Royal Academy of Music. Since then, they have gone on to play at London’s Wigmore Hall in 2000, and last year, won the Royal Overseas League Competition in London.
Now, the trio can add their selection for the MICMC – from an initial 130 applications – to their list of honours.
‘Normally in a competition…you might have about 60 [groups]. Here, they’ve just got 10 [piano] trios,’ Eimer explains. ‘So, you feel really honoured to be here actually.’
‘It’s just good to come out here and see Australia!’ Matthew Denton enthuses. Meanwhile, Emma points out that all the musicians are treated extremely well. Their travel is paid for, and, she adds, the organisers also footed the bill for an extra plane seat for her cello, to prevent any damage that might occur to it in the luggage compartment.
Overall, the trio seems to be having an overwhelmingly positive experience – combining a subsidised trip to Australia with performances alongside some of the best trios and quartets in the world today. But it’s not the picture you immediately get from the nation’s media.
Questions have been raised about the benefits of classical music competitions, citing the highly competitive nature of the event, even rumours of opponents out-psyching each other backstage. It’s not something the Eimer Trio experienced, as three heads nod in recognition of the support they’ve felt between competitors.
Emma Denton says best wishes and calls of ‘good luck’ are shared between the participants backstage, while Matthew explains that any feedback in relation to acoustics of the performance space is helpful and honest.
‘In a way the groups have been quite supportive of each other,’ he observes. ‘We all give each other feedback, we’re not secretive about what we think about the acoustic. We tell each other what we found [it was like performing]. We’re quite encouraging,’ Denton notes.
Among the jurors Down Under is Sheffield-based Peter Cropper, founder of the Lindsay Quartet. Cropper says one of the unique aspects of the MICMC is that it combines quartets and trios – a combination he has not come across in any other international competitions, but one which, he says, is complementary.
‘It’s marvellous to have two different sounds, the string quartet and the piano trio,’ he enthuses. ‘There are differences to playing in a quartet than a piano trio. A quartet is much more of a whole, whereas the piano trio is three individuals, together, they have to be three soloists that work well together.’
Cropper also points out the jurors – chaired by Wigmore Hall’s William Lyne – know what to look for because they are performers themselves.
‘We all know what it’s like to get out there and play,’ he affirms. He comments that the performances over the past few days have all displayed a high level of instrumental playing, but the panel is looking for performances which really tug on the heartstrings – that ‘put across a composer’s deepest thoughts.’
Arts Hub will report back on the winners of the competition in Monday’s bulletin. For further information on the event visit www.micmc.asn.au or CLICK HERE to visit the Eimer Trio’s website for future performance dates in the UK.
