When it comes to Beethoven, violinist Stefan Jackiw, cellist Alisa Weilerstein and pianist Inon Barnatan make a good team. Thursday evening in the Benedict Music Tent, with the composer’s “Ghost” Trio, they took things up a notch or two from last Sunday’s triple concerto performance.
The Piano Trio Op. 70 No. 1 got the nickname “Ghost” because of all the spooky tremolos in the expansive slow movement. Today’s audiences may not find it all that sinister, but the shifting textures and stop-and-start gestures make it one of the composer’s most distinctive. Freed of coordinating with an orchestra, the trio was mesmerizing, a case study in concentration and unity.