Trio

Schumann’s Album für die Jugend, Op. 68, of 1848 appears to be a collection of simple teaching pieces for children. But its unassuming exterior hides a wealth of inter-connected references: to Bach and to William Blake (whose Songs of Innocence and Experience it shadows), and to the life of the Romantic artist as reflected in nature and the passage of the seasons. Anssi Karttunen’s transcription for string trio brings a textural subtlety that enhances the unsuspected layers of meaning in Schumann’s modest miniatures – revealed, over 170 years after their composition, as an essential Romantic manifesto. The Zebra Trio consists of the Austrian violinist Ernst Kovacic, Canadian violist Steven Dann and Finnish cellist Anssi Karttunen, each bringing a vast experience in chamber music, in different styles and in working with living composers to the world of the string trio. The Zebra Trio has always mixed familiar master-pieces with new works and transcriptions, combining all of these in creative ways in their concerts.

Unlike many of his contemporaries, Georg Philipp Telemann was not born into a musical family. His parents, descendants of a line of Lutheran pastors, wanted him to pursue a brilliant academic career, and Telemann taught himself to play various instruments such as the violin, flute, zither, and harpsichord. He quickly demonstrated great musical talent and began composing his first pieces at the age of ten, often in secret and on borrowed instruments. At twelve, he composed his first opera, Sigismundus. To discourage him from pursuing a musical career, his mother confiscated all his instruments and sent him to boarding school. She probably didn't know that the superintendent was passionate about music and that he would suggest that Telemann compose motets for the church choir every week, as well as occasional arias…