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DR
RENCONTRES INÉDITES IV
Mendelssohn, Dvořák / Kavakos – Špaček – Teh Engstroem – Maisky – Weilerstein – Gerstein – Lim
Mature-career masterpieces for piano and strings by Mendelssohn and Dvořák.
Programme
FELIX MENDELSSOHN (1809-1847)
Piano Trio No. 2 in C minor Op. 66
(Gerstein, Kavakos, Weilerstein)
Interval
ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK (1841-1904)
Piano Quartet No.2 in E-flat major Op. 87
(Lim, Špaček, Teh Engstroem, Maisky)
Distribution
- Leonidas Kavakos violin
- Josef Špaček violin
- Blythe Teh Engstroem viola
- Mischa Maisky cello
- Alisa Weilerstein cello
- Kirill Gerstein piano
- Yunchan Lim piano
Composed in 1845, Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio No. 2 in dramatic C minor opens not on a melody but a dark, swirling figure, later contrasted by a longer-lined theme. A songlike Andante espressivo follows. Then a Scherzo with a similar fluttering lightness to his Octet. Opening minor-keyed but blossoming later into major-keyed warmth, the triple-time finale has at its centre, strikingly, a noble chorale decorated by fragments of the main theme. Dvořák’s Second Piano Quartet of 1889 is also a mature work. Opening on bold unison strings, its grand Allegro con fuoco constantly shifts between dark and light, urgency and tranquility, muscularity and delicacy. A songlike Lento comes next, built around three themes. Then a Scherzo encasing a merrily racing trio within a Ländler folk waltz. The jubilant Finale also sounds folk-breathed, this time Czech-flavoured, even emulating the dulcimer.