Music Chamber

Mediterranea Trio – Elenlucia Pappalardo (piano), Markella Vandoros (violin), Alessandro Sanguineti (cello) 

 

 

Piano Trio no 39 in G major, Hob XV:25 “Gipsy” – Joseph Haydn (1732 – 1809) 

Andante

Poco adagio, cantabile

Rondo a l’Ongarese: Presto

 

This trio was written in 1795 during Haydn’s time in London and is one of three dedicated to Rebecca Schroeter. The early piano trios of Haydn were written with the harpsichord in mind and reflect the Baroque Trio Sonata, but by the time these late works were composed, the piano was the favoured instrument.  Haydn was particularly impressed with English pianos so his time in London resulted in some of the most adventurous keyboard writing of the time, which has been favourably compared with Mozart’s Piano Concertos! By comparison, the string writing is less innovative but even this is full of the most imaginative writing using devices such as doubling, and double stopping, extended solo passages for the violin and various contrapuntal devices.  Although it is frequently claimed that the role of the cello is merely to double the left hand of the keyboard, this is by no means the case and the writing for the instrument shows the composer’s awareness of texture and emphasis. Early keyboard instruments lacked the power of modern pianos, necessitating some reinforcement of the bass, but even when a piano is used, the cello line is vital to the balance of the whole. The final Hungarian rondo movement gives this work the title by which it is frequently known! © Christine Talbot-Cooper 

 

Piano Trio no 1 in C minor, Opus 8 – Dimitri Shostakovich (1906-1975)

 

This early work,  written in 1923 while the composer was still a student at Leningrad Conservatoire, was dedicated to Tatyana Glivenko and was entitled Poem. The work is in one movement in which the eight linked sections are alternately slow and fast, and, although rather more romantic in style than his later works, there are clear indications of the distinctive style of the emerging composer.

© Christine Talbot-Cooper

 

Piano Trio no 2 in C minor, Opus 66 – Felix Mendelssohn (1809 – 1847)

Allegro energico e con fuoco

Andante espressivo

Scherzo: Molto allegro quasi presto

Finale: Allegro appassionato

 

The second of Mendelssohns’s piano trios was composed in 1845, two years before his death and was dedicated to Louis Spohr. As with the first trio, this work is in four movements, with a song-like slow second movement and a characteristic scherzo as a third movement. Both trios show off Mendelssohn’s gifts of melodic invention, craftsmanship and structural clarity. The opening movement in an expansive sonata form has a first theme, often set against rapid accompaniment figures and heard in various disguises including diminution and augmentation, which contrasts with the lyrical second subject in E flat major. The movement builds to a climax where the theme is played by the strings in augmentation against the original theme which is heard on the piano. A gentler second movement begins with a recurring falling figure, introduced by the piano, and contains in its central section some beautiful modulations. By contrast, the third movement is a sparkling scherzo in G minor which ventures into G major for the trio section, with the busy semiquavers and fugal writing all vanishing into thin air in an ending which brings to mind the scherzo of the String Octet which Mendelssohn wrote twenty years earlier. As with his earlier piano trio, Mendelssohn uses rondo form for the final movement, but it is a rondo with three principal themes, the third of which, a chorale-like melody, is used to great effect at the climax of the work.  At this point the music moves to C major and the writing for the three instruments takes on almost orchestral proportions in the powerful coda. © Christine Talbot-Cooper

 

The Mediterranea Trio was established at the Royal College of Music in 2007 by pianist Elenlucia Pappalardo, violinist Markella Vandoros and cellist Alessandro Sanguineti. The Trio has been coached by Andrew Ball, the Chilingirian Quartet, Gordon Fergus-Thompson, Yuri Zhislin, David Dolan, Geoffrey Govier and Kathron Sturrock and has participated in masterclasses with Susan Tomes at King's Place, Eckart Heiligers, Alexander Malosh, Peter Cropper, Moray Welsh and Simon Rowland-Jones. After its debut at the National Gallery, the Mediterranea Trio went on to perform at venues such as St Martin-in-the-Fields, Cheltenham Town Hall, St James’s Piccadilly, Regent Hall, Farnham Castle for the Tilford Bach Society, the Lansdowne Club in Mayfair, the Royal College of Music, the Louth and District Concert Society and the Rothamsted Manor in Harpenden. It also took part in the Chilingirian Chamberfest 2009, the Bedford Park Festival and the Exhibition Road Music Day 2010. More info at their website.