Isabelle Faust (viool), Jean-Guihen Queyras (cello) & Alexander Melnikov (piano)

THE JOY OF TRIOS BY HAYDN, BEETHOVEN AND SCHUMANN

Schumann struggled with the feeling of being a beneficiary of Beethoven’s compositional thinking when composing his piano trios. For him, Beethoven, like Haydn, had set a new standard for the genre. Where in Haydn’s earliest works the role of the cello was limited to duplicating the basso continuo the three instruments developed into equal partners in his later compositions. Schumann worked intensively for months on this romantic trio. In his diary we frequently find the words ‘Trio-Gedanken’ (trio thoughts) and ‘Triofreuden’ (trio joy).

Isabelle Faust, Jean-Guihen Queyras and Alexander Melnikov, the absolute top of contemporary chamber music, are perfect for this classical romantic programme.