Midsummer Night Magic by The Lee Trio
Milwaukee is fortunate to have many wonderful classical musicians. Melinda Lee Masur is the pianist with the Lee Trio, with her two sisters – Lisa Lee on violin and Angela Lee on cello. They have performed all around the world, as well as in Milwaukee. Those who were able to attend this year’s Chelsea Music Festival in New York City, where Melinda and her husband, Ken-David Masur, are joint artistic directors, got a sneak preview of their new album in a June 25 program subtitled “Visions and Stories.”
The Trio’s recording contains Fern Flowers (2015) by Uljas Pulkkis (b. 1975), the Piano Trio No. 2 in F Major, Op. 80 (1847) by Robert Schumann (1810-1856), Five Trios (2019) by Edmund Finnis (b. 1984), and Fantasiestücke, Op. 88 (1842) by Schumann. I was curious about recording contemporary composers alongside Romantic compositions from more than 175 years before. I had my doubts. But the Trio’s delightful recording of the four proved the wisdom of their selection. Their presentation brings the sounds together under a clear and sparkling Midsummer Night of Magic.
Pulkkis wrote Fern Flowers in commemoration of Sibelius’ 150th anniversary by focusing on the biggest celebration (after Christmas) in Finland, Midsummer. According to Melinda, “The piece depicts the legends of the Fern Flowers, where women dance with the crown of mythical fern flowers during Midsummer and receive a vision of their future spouse. What is also woven throughout the piece is Finnish Ttngo, which is played throughout Midsummer celebrations, by young and old, sober and not!” Fern Flowers brings a child’s delight to a Finnish night sky that is never dark. It is easy to imagine gossamer insects flittering from one flower to the next. Commissioned by the Trio, this piece premiered at the Chelsea Music Festival in 2015 and represents a long-time friendship with the composer, who the Trio met at the Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival and Competition in Finland.
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The Trio’s effervescent and bubbling presentation of Schumann’s 2nd Piano Trio permits the listener to maintain their nighttime, northern sky fantasy. But it is growing late under the Midsummer sky and Schumann’s Trio is followed by Edmund Finnis’ composition which is both light and somber at the same time. His Five Trios permit you to close your eyes and float over still meadows all the while sustained by the Trio’s ethereal touch.
Finnis is an accomplished English composer currently at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Mellinda first heard Finnis’ music at Tanglewood, where he was a composition fellow and now teaches piano and chamber music each summer. She was immediately drawn to his sound world and loved his “Piece a Day” which is an assignment that all composition fellows do— compose a piece in just one day. Melinda and her husband, Ken-David, invited him to be composer-in-residence at their Chelsea Music Festival and a friendship and collaboration with Finnis has flourished since then.
Schumann’s Fantasy Pieces op. 88 by Schumann concludes this CD. The Lee Trio’s gentle touch with these simple and charming pieces carry us from the midsummer night into the brightening dawn. “Robert Schumann was a composer who was connected closely with literature, immersed in fantasy and stories as the son of a publisher,” Melinda says. “Before he was surrounded by stacks of sheet music, he was surrounded by the towers of literary masters.” Additionally, the members of the Lee Trio write how their individual and collective “love for Robert Schumann’s music lays a foundation for how we tell our own stories as musicians, mothers, and human beings – with vulnerability, empathy and swelling hope.” The Trio captures the essence, pathos, and longing of Schumann’s language and sound in this record.
This is a delightful recording of both new and old compositions that play well together. There’s no need to create a special playlist if you’d want magical music for a midsummer’s night or indeed any other time.
Midsummer Night Magic will be released on August 2 and available to stream on all listening platforms as well as purchased online from Chelsea Music Festival Records.
Get Midsummer Night Magic at Amazon here.
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