Programmes 2027/2028
Programme I - Familiar allure
Charles Ives - Piano Trio
Beethoven - Allegretto B-flat major, WoO 39
Birke Bertelsmeier (1981*) - „Vertrautes angezogensein“ – Auftragswerk, 2024
(engl. „familiar allure“ – commissioned piece, 2024)
***intermission***
Beethoven - Piano Trio No. 7 B-flat major, op. 97 “Archduke-Trio”
Music from very different eras — whether from the Classical period, early Modernism, or the present day — often has more in common than one might initially think. Though the musical language and sound may differ, the music can still speak of the same things — only in a different context.
Like an echo of what came before, the works in the first half flow seamlessly into one another, creating an almost magical, intimate atmosphere. The great differences in style and time recede into the background; instead, they are united by a shared gesture — a long, collective exhale.
The same holds true for the second half: Beethoven’s Archduke Trio radiates a serenity, grandeur, and emotional maturity that remain unmatched to this day. Its music possesses such lyrical beauty and depth that it immediately captivates the listener.
Programme II - Boundless
Beethoven - Piano Trio No. 3 c minor, op. 1,3
Bridge - Piano Trio No. 1 c minor, H. 97 „Phantasie Trio“
***intermission***
Schubert - Piano Trio No. 2 E-flat major, op. 100
Beethoven’s radical trio in c minor was the 25-year-old composer’s ticket to the grand stage. In his Opus 1, he presents himself not as a timid pupil, but rather as a strong young man who, with complete self-confidence, breaks through all boundaries and will single-handedly revolutionize the world of music.
This is followed by the rarely performed Phantasie Trio by Frank Bridge, a work brimming with passion and energy. Standing at the threshold between late Romanticism and modernism, Bridge develops an independent, richly colored musical language that lets stylistic boundaries fade into the background and captivates the audience at every moment.
After the intermission, Schubert’s monumental E-flat major Trio—perhaps the most finished and greatest piano trio ever written—takes the stage. “Like an angry apparition from the heavens,” Robert Schumann once described the work in reverence, and it can hardly be expressed more fittingly. Composed in the final year of Schubert’s life—at the same time as Winterreise—it sweeps the listener, now gently, now violently, into the deepest abysses and the loftiest heights, while redefining all boundaries and dimensions of chamber music.
Programme III - Into unknown regions
Haydn - Piano Trio F major, Hob. XV: 6
Ives - Piano Trio
***intermission***
Schubert - Piano Trio No. 2 E-flat major, op. 100
All the works on this program break new ground, set out on fresh paths, and venture into unknown territory.
Joseph Haydn is regarded not only as the father of the string quartet, but also of the piano trio—indeed, of chamber music as a whole. He gladly uses these new and vibrant genres as a field for experimentation: His F major trio Hob. XV:6, for example, consists of only two movements and sparkles with playful spirit and wit. Here, everything seems possible—so cheeky, effervescent, and original is the music.
With Charles Ives, it is quite similar—and yet entirely different: This piano trio sounds so quirky, peculiar, humorous, over-the-top, and chaotically brilliant that there is hardly another piece remotely like it. Ives develops such a distinctive musical language that one can hardly stop listening out of sheer curiosity.
Schubert’s great E-flat major trio, by contrast, treads completely different paths. With this work, he shatters everything that had previously existed in terms of expressive power, length, and intensity in the piano trio—and perhaps even to this day. From the darkest terrors to the sweetest dreams, the music draws the listener into regions that only Schubert could evoke in this way.
Programme IV - New paths
Beethoven - Piano Trio No. 3 c minor, op. 1,3 1
Bridge - Piano Trio No. 1 c minor, H. 97 „Phantasie Trio“
***intermission***
Helena Winkelman (1974) - commissioned piece (2026, title to be confirmed) -
written for the Amelio Trio, commissioned by: Kölner Philharmonie,
Barbican Centre London, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Philharmonie
du Luxembourg and the European Concert Hall Organisation (ECHO)
Brahms (1833-1897) Piano Trio No. 3 c minor, op. 101
“New Paths” — this was the title of the newspaper article by Robert Schumann in which he introduced the then 20-year-old Johannes Brahms to the musical world as its great new hope.
Something similar could certainly be said about Ludwig van Beethoven’s Opus 1. Here, an artist steps onto the stage with a level of quality and a radical style that would forever change the world of music. Frank Bridge, in comparison, may not have had as lasting an influence on subsequent generations as Beethoven; yet he, too, strikes out on “new paths”. Standing on the threshold of modernism, he discovers a unique blend of traditional harmony and new sound worlds—both gripping and mysterious.
How could even “newer paths” be taken than by composing an entirely new work? The piece by Helena Winkelman opens the second half of the concert, bringing the program into the present day.
In the end, Schumann’s prophecy seems to have proven true over the years. The concert concludes with Brahms’s final piano trio—at just over twenty minutes, his shortest in the genre. This work is so densely interwoven, so compact and intensely written that it builds a uniquely seething tension, bringing the evening to a powerful close.
Programme V - Untamed
Haydn - Piano Trio F major, Hob. XV: 6
Schumann - Piano Trio No. 3 g minor, op. 110
***intermission***
Martinů - Piano Trio No. 1 „5 Pièces brèves“, H. 193
Brahms - Piano Trio No. 3 c minor, op. 101
Untamed energy can take many forms in music: the playful, rapid virtuosity of Haydn; the overwhelming emotional outbursts of Schumann; the rhythmic and harmonic tricks and flourishes of Martinu; or the grand, fateful drama of Brahms.
This program is filled with power and intensity from beginning to end, yet so varied that the music constantly sweeps the listener into entirely new worlds.
Programme VI Beethoven X Schachtner
Beethoven - Piano Trio No. 3 c minor, op. 1,3
Johannes X. Schachtner (1985 - „In tiefer Ehrfurcht“ (2026 – commissioned piece by the Amelio Trio)
***intermission***
Beethoven - Piano Trio No. 7 B-flat major, op. 97 “Archduke-Trio”
Rediscovering the New in the Old — that is the central idea behind Beethoven X Schachtner.
When we hear the name Beethoven, we already carry certain expectations before the music even begins—something almost impossible to avoid. During his lifetime, however, the experience was entirely different: the music was so new, so avant-garde, so revolutionary, that it is difficult for us to fully grasp its original impact today.
Together with Johannes X. Schachtner, we asked ourselves: What would today’s music sound like if it merged these ideas together?
With Schachtner’s new work, combined with Beethoven’s youthful and dynamic c minor trio and the later and deeply mature Archduke Trio, this program allows listeners to hear these “old” masterpieces in a light that still reflects the spirit of the unprecedented. At the same time, Schachtner’s contemporary sounds are placed in a fresh context, inviting a new perspective
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