They began with an arrangement of Debussy’s La Mer which they’d commissioned from their composer friend Sally Beamish. Reducing a work for over a hundred players down to just three must have been a daunting task, but despite the loss of a lot of orchestral colour the result is a success. The Second Piano Trio by Frank Bridge is a harder nut for audiences to crack; its ideas, especially in the long first movement not easy to grasp despite the committed playing of the Apaches. The two central movements are more immediately rewarding and went well. However in both these works there was some lack of balance; the cellist Thomas Carroll and violinist Matthew Trusler have very contrasted approaches to performing, the one very extrovert, the other more inward, and Ashley Wass is a very assertive pianist.

After the interval these balance problems seemed to be resolved, and Shostakovich’s Second Trio, surely a masterpiece, received a superb performance,. The way the first movement emerges from the shadows into full daylight was imaginatively done. The sardonic humour of the scherzo was conveyed at dazzling speed and the overwhelming sadness of the slow movement was expressively caught. The playing of the extraordinary finale, which moves from apparent triteness through searing tragedy and then to peaceful resolution was such that the end was greeted with profound silence before the applause could begin. Quite rightly after such an emotional experience no encore was offered or required.

G.K.