Trio Con Brio

Starting from the magisterial trios of Beethoven and Brahms, clarinetist Daniel Ottensamer, cellist Stephan Koncz and pianist Christoph Traxler began a journey to explore the influences these works exerted on other composers. As they moved further and further away from their point of departure, their search took them through several centuries and across every continent and their project burgeoned into a comprehensive anthology. “Our initial idea was to juxtapose these mainstream works with contemporary pieces, but our work on this project eventually got so out of hand that there was no end to the works that we discovered for our ensemble,” Koncz explains. “In all of them the tonal variety of the clarinet and the interplay between the three instruments is explored in completely different ways.”

Johann Nepomuk Hummel was one of the finest composers bridging the gap between the Classical and Romantic eras. His teachers included Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven, and Hummel learned his lessons very well. His music is notable for its harmonious treatments, expert architecture and never-ending string of attractive melodies.

Johann Nepomuk Hummel - Trio Parnassus - Complete Piano Trios
2xCD | EAC+LOG+CUE | APE: 435 MB | Artwork | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: MDG "Gold" # 303 0307-2 | Country/Year: Germany 199_, 1989
Genre: Classical | Style: Viennese School, Piano

"…In conclusion, this is a splendid set covering some of Hummel's most rewarding music in performances that cannot be improved upon. Although there are a few other Hummel recordings that are mighty fine, the 'best of Hummel' is to be found in this MDG set and the Chandos piano concerto disc featuring Stephen Hough. With such wonderful performances, Hummel becomes a worthy alternative to Haydn, Mozart and early Beethoven. The MDG is an essential set worth every penny of its premium price." ~musicweb-international

The Weiss Kaplan Stumpf Trio's highly anticipated BEETHOVEN: COMPLETE PIANO TRIOS (BRIDGE 9505A/C three CDs) is now available. The stellar New York City based trio (Yael Weiss, piano; Mark Kaplan, violin; Peter Stumpf, cello) offer deep, beautifully rendered interpretations of eight immortal masterworks.

Comprised of pianist Pauline Chenais, violinist Clémence de Forceville and cellist Angèle Legasa, Trio Sōra may well be a new name to many Qobuz listeners, when this is a debut album. That said, the name is likely to ring bells for anyone who keeps an eye on Europe's various young artist programmes and festival academies, because this young French ensemble's notable achievements of recent years include the Special Prize of the Verbier Festival Academy in 2018, and in 2020 a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship.

With this very first recording, dedicated to the corpus of the six piano trios with opus numbers from Beethoven, the Trio Sōra immediately establish a strong identity: that of a training course committed to demanding repertoires, concerned with authenticity and carrying audacity.