By John Rushby-Smith

NOW endowed with a magnificent concert Steinway, the beautiful Great Barn at Hellens is becoming a favoured venue for chamber concerts. It poses a few problems, however, as its long, narrow shape makes it difficult for performers to achieve an ideal layout, and that chosen by the Rosamunde Trio last Saturday was awkward. With the piano beside and below the dais, pianist Martino Tirimo seemed to occupy a world of his own. His task was made even more onerous by a bizarre decision to have the piano lid half closed, which muffling effect meant he had to force the tone to the detriment of delicacy and line. Neither did the barn’s dry acoustic help his quirkily staccato approach to Mozart’s G major Trio (K496), which sounded brittle rather than fluid. From their loftier perch Tirimo’s partners Ben Sayevich (violin) and Daniel Veis (cello) projected a fulsome sound, and the playing in Brahms’s C minor Trio was certainly hefty, but both it and that iconic compendium of Czech folk tunes, Dvorak’s “Dumky” Trio, left me yearning for greater subtlety of phrase and colour. Fortunately music of this stature has the resilience to survive such imperfections, and the capacity audience clearly enjoyed what they heard. Later in 2012 the Much Marcle venue will host other musical events, among them a recital given as part of the Autumn in Malvern Festival by Leeds International Piano Competition winner Sofya Gulyak. If her previous Malvern appearance was anything to go by, this will be a major treat, and I bet the piano lid will be fully open – as it should be.