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The Ensemble
Michael Mücke – Violin · Jens Peter Maintz –
Cello · Wolf Harden - Piano
Artists
& Works
The sweeping impulsivity and musical gauge of their interpretations
have led these "three divine sons" (Süddeutsche
Zeitung) to where they are today. Undoubtedly, Trio Fontenay
is currently the most renowned German piano trio. A fast-paced
career developed in the mid-1980s, during the course of which
the "young, wild ones" were continual guests at Europe’s
larger festivals. In 1986 they had their American debut. Since
then, one or two large annual tours take them through the USA
and Canada, within the scope of which the trio regularly performs
in major metropolitan cities such as New York, Los Angeles, Chicago,
Montreal and Toronto. The ensemble’s comprehensive repertoire
is a cross-section of all piano trio literature, and with its
interpretations impressed with intensity and faithfulness, Trio
Fontenay has always aroused great acclamation from both its public
and critics alike. For their complete recording of the Beethoven
Trios, Trio Fontenay was award the annual prize by Deutsche Schallplattenkritik,
as well as the French "Diapason d’Or". In Paris,
the trio was appointed Châtelet Theatre’s resident
trio.
In this recording they play Piano Trio No. 1, op 35 by the Spanish
pianist and composer Joaquin Turina from the year 1926 - a piece
previously unrecorded by the Trio. Together with Manuel de Falla,
Turina is held as the most outstanding representative of the
modern Spanish school, which was motivated by French Impressionism,
but in its melody, however, is attached to the folk music of
Andalusia.
The second part of the concert includes Piano Trio in E-flat
Major, op. 70 No. 2 by Ludwig van Beethoven. Carl Czerny, composer
and student of Beethoven, says of this work, "this trio
is no less great or original than its successor (Trio D-major,
op 70 No. 1), but it is of a very different, less serious character."
The trio in e-flat major was composed during the summer of 1808
immediately after the Sixth Symphony, and applies foreseen traits
to Romanticism. Beethoven expands his realm of expression here
in two somewhat converse directions: both in a seemingly romantically
tonal colourfulness, and towards the inclusion of classic style
elements by means of a stricter introduction.
Michael Mücke plays a violin from Gaspare Lorenzini (Piacenza
1780); Jens Peter Maintz plays a Violoncello from Vincenzo Rugeri
(1696). |
