Intimate, masterful and free

By Kristen Peterson

Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2008 | 2 a.m.

The trio were near the end of the third movement of Shostakovich’s Piano Trio No. 2 when the doorbell rang. The brief interruption served as an acute reminder that we were not in the composer’s Stalinist reality, as the musicians had so convinced us by their moving performance.

The late guests sat on the stairs, entranced like the rest of us as the trio played through the Jewish folk melodies that end the mournful four-movement piece in the living room of the Las Vegas town house.

Friday’s concert, taking place on the marble floor of what was a dining room before the baby grand moved in, was merely a warm-up for a series of concerts by the newly formed Mechta Trio consisting of pianist Masha Pisarenko, violinist Laraine Kaizer-Viazovtsev and cellist Elena Kapustina.

Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio No. 1 would end the evening that was begun by Mozart’s Piano Trio No. 4 (first movement only).

This Friday, the group repeats the popular trios at the Summerlin Library Theatre before continuing the free series at the Clark County Library on East Flamingo Road and UNLV’s Doc Rando Recital Hall.

This has been Kaizer-Viazovtsev’s plan since arriving in Las Vegas last year with husband Alexander Viazovtsev, principal flutist for the Las Vegas Philharmonic.

“I was bugging everybody to get a group together,” says Kaizer-Viazovtsev, a violinist with the Philharmonic. “I’m crazy about it. I just want to do it all the time.”

Venues are hard to come by. There is no money to be made. But they have pulled it off — with help from the Las Vegas Chamber Music Society and the Performing Arts Society of Las Vegas. They are delivering the performances as a gift to the community because it is the music they love.

“Some of the greatest pieces ever written were created for this kind of ensemble,” Kaizer-Viazovtsev says while snacking in the kitchen after the show with the guests and discussing whether to switch the order of the Shostakovich and Mendelssohn pieces.

Of the popular piano trios, Shostakovich’s No. 2 is the most intense and the group doesn’t want it to be missed. Written in 1944 by a composer who was balancing his creative and political views under the oppressive regime, the emotionally dense piece was dedicated to his closest friend, Ivan Sollertinsky, who died while Shostakovich was writing the piece.

Rehearsals for this program have been extensive, and the Mechta Trio have developed beautiful chemistry. That might be expected from their noteworthy resumes, but isn’t assured.

Kaizer-Viazovtsev, who received her doctorate from the University of Cincinnati, makes a living as a freelance violinist (in addition to her gig with the Las Vegas Philharmonic).

Pisarenko, who was born in Siberia and received her master’s degree from the Russian Academy of Music (Gnesinyh), performed and competed throughout Europe before landing in the United States three years ago. She teaches piano.

Kapustina, who graduated from the Belarus State Conservatory, performed with the Opera and Philharmonic Society Orchestra of Plovdiv, Bulgaria, and the Plovdiv National Opera Theater Orchestra. She is a cellist for the Las Vegas Philharmonic and teaches cello and piano. She is newer to chamber music than the others.

Pisarenko, who hosted Friday’s concert, has held a few private salon-style concerts in her home, an environment for which classical music was intended long before there were electricity, designer track lighting and air conditioning.

“It’s about sharing with close friends,” she says.