Artists

Opening this concert with one of Australia’s most iconic piano trios,  we are immediately conscious of the colours, light sounds,   and the mystical relationship Edwards has with the sea and earth of this great land. One of Spain’s great composers follows with a highly expressive, Neo-Romantic and refined work that embodies the composer’s Spanish roots with dance and salon music, hints of the gypsy and the Moor and its many folkloric elements.

The beauty and power of Dvořák’s style exemplifies his fervent nationalist stance in the face of pressure from the prevalent German tradition bringing to a close this powerful program whose flavours are brought vividly to life by three old friends and veteran Australian artists.

Works

• Ross Edwards (1943 - ) - Piano Trio (1998)
• Enrique Granados (1867-1916) - Piano Trio, Op.50 (1894)
• Antonin Dvořák (1841-1904) - Piano Trio in F minor Op. 65 (1883)

Tour 3, 2021 - Mavericks

Overview

This program presents the work of three fascinating composers whose impact was both profound and long-lasting. Whilst they experienced the world at very much the same point in time, their view of the piano trio genre was vastly different.

Discouraged by comments made about ‘women in music’ in an American newspaper by Dvořák, Amy Beach wrote a strong rebuttal and when four years later in 1896, her own work was premiered by the Boston Symphony, she became known as the dean of American women composers and a national symbol of women’s creative power.

Englishwoman Dame Ethel Smyth, somewhat marginalized for being a “woman” composer, was nonetheless a powerful force, encouraged by both Dvořák and Brahms and known to Clara Schumann. She was also a vigorous member of the suffragette movement.

Often regarded as one of France’s greatest composers, Ravel also went against the establishment and chose his own path in composition, fusing modern elements with the baroque, classicism and jazz.  Bringing together three of Australia’s powerhouse artists, this program represents a perfect synergy. 

Works

• Amy Beach (1867 – 1944) - Piano Trio Op.150 (1938)
• Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) - Piano Trio in A minor 1914
• Dame Ethel Smyth (1858 – 1944) - Piano Trio in D minor

Tour 4, 2021 - Natural Wonders

Overview

Australian premiered by Selby & Friends six years ago, Tower’s Big Sky is a visceral portrait of the composer riding her favourite horse through a deep Bolivian valley. A Grammy award-winning American composer, Towers’ work is highly evocative, grounded in a love of the natural world. Given his famous long walks and love of nature, it seemed only right to include Brahms’ massive youthful, then much later reworked, B major Trio in the program along with the emotionally driven, very late Mendelssohn Trio as they both resonate with imagery, passion, humour and song. Susie and Umberto work together for the first time with Kathy in this exhilarating program of big works for piano trio.

Works

• Joan Tower (1938 - ) - Big Sky (2005)
• Felix Mendelssohn (1809 – 1847) - Piano Trio in C minor, Op.66 (1845)
• Johannes Brahms (1833 – 1897) - Piano Trio in B major, Op. 8 (1854)

Tour 5, 2021 - "A rose between two 'thorns'"

Overview

Our title for this program is quite obviously tongue in cheek! One cannot possibly label either of the great melody masters, Rachmaninov and Schubert, as anything remotely close to being thorns, but the idiom seemed apt in the context of the largely underestimated Fanny Mendelssohn as a composer to be admired in her own right. Highly  intellectual , cultured and  a  formidable force  in the musical  life of Berlin, Fanny was also confidante and best friend to her brother Felix who passed away within months of her own untimely death. Book-ending the season with Schubert’s second great final piano trio, this program, which brings together two of Australia’s most gifted musicians of the younger generation with Kathy, is truly an exploration of youth, song and yearning. It is a fitting close to our dazzling exploration of the piano trio repertoire this season.

Works

• Sergei Rachmaninov (1873 - 1943) - Piano Trio élégiaque No. 1 in G minor (1892)
• Fanny Mendelssohn (1805 - 1847) - Piano Trio in D minor Op.11 (1847)
• Franz Schubert (1797 - 1828) - Piano Trio in E flat Major, Op.100 D.929 (1827)