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The salon ensemble
of flute, clarinet and piano can be
a difficult one to balance especially
in this kind of repertoire. There’s
also the question of sonority and the
kind of weight of ensemble that can
be achieved, especially in the more
vigorous and eventful Hungarian and
Slavonic Dances. These problems are
by and large well met in these arrangements
by clarinettist Michael Webster, whose
eponymous trio must be cringing at the
god-awful pun that gives the album its
title. Maybe not though – they seem
to be able to take a joke, judging from
their humorous cover grins.
Webster’s
arrangements and transcriptions work
well enough in these mini-me reductions.
There is nice flute in the Op.46 No.8
Dvořák and light, bouncing
rhythm from the trio in the Poco adagio,
Op.72 No.5. The highlight of the Debussy
is the delightfully appealing Cortège
and of the Brahms I suspect the naughtiness
of the Sixth will hit the hardest. No.5
though is too fast and not witty. For
more specialist tastes – the non-tea
room brigade (not that I’m suggesting
that this is exclusively Lyons Corner
House material) - then it’s the Gottschalk
that will be of most interest. The glittery
embellishments and decorative right
hand piano roulades that lace La Jota
Aragonesa are full of evocative legerdemain.
The Souvenir de la Havane moves via
Habanera rhythm from darkness to light
and there’s fine drive and sway in the
Chopinesque Souvenir de Cuba, written
in 1860.
So a fine idea well
executed and recorded with the usual
array of non-pompous and helpful notes
by Webster himself – it’s a Crystal
speciality often to get the performers
to write notes. Good fun.
Jonathan Woolf
The Webster Trio - Leone Buyse (flute), Michael
Webster (clarinet) Robert Moeling (piano) 
