The Hungarian Trio Lignum consists of two clarinets and a bassoon, an exceptionally mellow and mellifluous ensemble. The program here includes four works, two contemporary pieces framed by transcriptions of two Renaissance works. Ockeghem's Missa Sine Nomine was written for three voices, so it's a natural for arrangement for three wind instruments with strong vocal qualities. In Trio Lignum's understated performance, it's serenely abstract and meditative.
Thomas Tallis' Felix Namque, originally for keyboard, probably organ, is more varied and colorful in its effect, due in part to the addition of a part for cimbalom, played by
Ildikò Vèkony. The juxtaposition of the organ-like sustained notes of the trio and the brittle, percussive sound of the cimbalom is texturally fascinating in this arrangement by Ádám Kondor. Zsolt Serei places one of the clarinets offstage in his Dream drawings, and its distance gives it a timbre distinctive from that of the other clarinet. Each of the three instruments inhabits its own musical world, with little apparent coordinated interaction with the others, so while the piece does capture the irrationality of dreams, it has an aimless, meandering quality. József Sári's Trialog, in contrast, is a perky and witty bagatelle. The ensemble plays with warmth and finesse, and with sensitivity to the variety of these four pieces. The sound is clean, with a nice sense of presence and intimacy.