Piano trios by Trio Mondrian

Maurice Ravel

Trio Mondrian

Piano trios

Price: € 12.95
Format: CD
Label: Challenge Classics
UPC: 0608917253528
Catnr: CC 72535
Release date: 30 March 2012
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Label
Challenge Classics

UPC
0608917253528

Catalogue number
CC 72535

Release date
30 March 2012

"A heartfelt Shostakovich reading with the Mondrian plumbing the work's tragic depths and an expressive Ravel played with precision and polish."

Music Web International, 01-8-2012

Album

Artist(s)

Composer(s)

Press

About the album

This trio is one of the outstanding young musicians/ensembles who are helped by the Borletti-Buitoni Trust (BBT) to develop and sustain an international career and the developement of Trio Mondrian is going very fast now. Especially with this new cd in hand where the trio displays an intense and rich expression and deep musicality. The trio wrote on the blog of the Borletti-Buitoni Trust: "Our key to sustaining that joy, which is later transcended to our audience, is the connection that we have between us not only as musicians but also as people, as friends. When we are on tour our Trio becomes a family." The connection between them, the unity as a trio is very strong and this cd is a perfect result of this!

Shostakovich's tumultuous life may serve as an explanation for his affinity with the Jewish People who had suffered both at home under the terror of the Soviet regime, and in the rest of Europe under the Nazis. It was the composer’s aim to translate his personal feelings into a universal human language. This comes across in the 1948 song cycle "From Jewish Poetry", the Symphony No.13 ("Babi Yar") from 1962, and the second Piano Trio from 1944. Shostakovich wrote the following in his memoirs: "Jewish folk music seems jolly even when it is at its most tragic… 'smiling through tears' is as close as it gets to my ideals of (semantically speaking) music as a multi-layered art form". This approach is particularly noticeable in the cynicism which is expressed by the dancing, Klezmer-like tune of the trio's final movement. At the time, accounts of the atrocities of the Nazis' concentration camps had reached Russia; these were stories of horror, of Jewish people who were forced to sing and dance on their open graves before they were slaughtered by SS soldiers.

In the summer of 1914, war in Europe had become inevitable. It was during this year that Maurice Ravel, who had been working on his piano suite, "Le tombeaux de Couperin”, started on a piece for piano, violin and cello which he had been intending to write for a long time. Unlike the suite, which he completed in 1917, the composer was able to finish the trio by the end of that summer.
The completion of the trio inspired a long phase of creativity during which Ravel produced the "Valse Nobles" (1911), "Daphnis et Chloé "(1909-1912) and three songs based on a text by Stéphane Mallarmé (1913).

Ravel dedicated this work to his counterpoint teacher, André Gedalge. The transparency and perfect balance between the melodic lines of the three instruments show that Ravel had internalized the theory he had been studying, and had been applying it as a creative tool since that time.

Hartverscheurende en lyrische pianoklanken, gespeeld door Trio Mondrian
Op dit album van het Trio Mondrian, spelen Ohad Ben-Ari op piano, Daniel Bard op viool en Hila Karni op cello, samen pianotrio’s van Ravel en Sjostakovitsj. En dat doen ze overtuigend en intens. Muziek, die twee oorlogen omspant en waaruit angst en lijden spreekt, maar prachtig klinkt. "A heartfelt Shostakovich reading with the Mondrian plumbing the work's tragic depths and an expressive Ravel played with precision and polish." Music Web International, augustus 2012.

Het Trio Mondrian werd opgericht in 2007, nadat de drie musici in heel Europa en in het bijzonder in Duitsland ervaring als solist hadden opgedaan. Samen creëren ze exquise klanken die getuigen van een buitengewone gevoeligheid, volwassen begrip en rijke ervaring in het muziek maken. Zelf zeggen ze: "Dat wij plezier blijven houden in het musiceren, en die vreugde ook kunnen overdragen aan ons publiek, komt door de verbinding, die we met elkaar hebben. Niet alleen als musici maar ook als mensen, als vrienden. Als we op tournee zijn wordt ons Trio een familie." Hun connectie en eenheid als trio is sterk en dat is te horen in deze opname.

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937), van Zwitsers-Baskische afkomst, maakte naam als componist van piano- en orkestmuziek. Hij schreef ook een grootschalig ballet voor het beroemde balletgezelschap Ballets Russes. Ravel was impressionist in de klassieke muziek, en voorloper en initiator van het expressionisme. Hij schreef zijn briljante en waardevolle pianotrio uit 1914, kort voor hij als chaufffeur ging dienen in het Franse leger. Het stuk weerspiegelt dan ook de angst en onrust van de Eerste Wereldoorlog die toen uitbrak. Ravel zorgt in dit werk voor een perfecte balans tussen de melodielijnen van de drie instrumenten. Een sonate vol harmonische en muzikale innovaties, gecomponeerd rond evenwichtige klassieke patronen: een meesterwerk.

Dmitri Dmitrijevitsj Sjostakovitsj (1906, St. Petersburg) was een muzikaal wonderkind. Zijn jeugdwerk bevatte al de karakteristieke kenmerken van de rijpere Sjostakovitsj: meesterlijke orkestratie, bizarre contrasten en stekelige dissonanten. Modernistische muziek die typerend is voor de overgangsfase waarin de Russische kunst zich in de beginjaren van de componist bevond en de relatieve vrijheid in de nadagen van Lenin. Sjostakovitsj oogstte veel bewondering met zijn muziek, maar met de komst van Stalin veranderde dat drastisch. Hij voelde zich jarenlang ernstig bedreigd, maar bleef componeren op een manier die tegemoetkwam aan de eisen van het regime, maar met een progressief randje en een onderhuidse boodschap.
Zijn tumultueuze leven verklaart zijn affiniteit met het Joodse volk, dat leed onder de terreur van het Sovjet regime, en in de rest van Europa onder de Nazi's. De componist wilde zijn persoonlijke gevoelens hierover omzetten naar een universele taal, wat onder andere tot uiting komt in zijn tweede Piano Trio uit 1944. In zijn memoires schreef Sjostakovitsj: "Joodse volksmuziek lijkt vrolijk, zelfs als de muziek op z'n meest tragisch is. Lachen door de tranen heen. Dat komt het dichtst bij mijn ideale muziek als een kunstvorm die uit meerdere lagen bestaat." Deze benadering komt vooral tot uiting in de cynische, Klezmer-achtige klanken van het slotdeel van het pianotrio. Het verwijst naar de Joden, die, gedwongen door SS-soldaten, moesten dansen en zingen bij hun open graven, voordat ze werden gedood.

Überzeugendes Debüt des israelischen Klaviertrios Trio Mondrian

Die Debüt-CD des Trio Mondrian mit Klaviertrios von Ravel und Schostakowitsch (Nr. 2) überzeugt sofort durch seinen intensiven und reichen Ausdruck sowie durch tiefe Musikalität. Das Trio Mondrian besteht aus Daniel Bard, Violine, Hila Karni, Cello, und Ohad Ben-Ari, Klavier. Nachdem die drei Musiker in ganz Europa und besonders Deutschland Erfahrungen als Solisten gesammelt haben, gründeten sie 2007 das Trio Mondrian Trio. Es hat u.a. den International Chamber Music Competition in Triest (2007) und den Audience Prize der Bologna Festivals (2008) gewonnen sowie den BBT Fellowship in London (2009) erhalten.

Artist(s)

Ohad Ben-Ari (piano)

Daniel Bard (violin)

Hila Karni (cello)

Trio Mondrian

Pianist Ohad Ben-Ari, violinist Daniel Bard and cellist Hila Karni create a unique musical tapestry of exquisite sounds that expresses their extraordinary sensitivity, mature understanding and rich experience of music making.
In 2007, the Trio won first prize at the prestigious International Chamber Music Competition in Trieste, Italy, as well as receiving the Special Prize for their interpretation of a Brahms Trio and the "Young Award". In addition, they have won the audience prize at the 2008 Bologna Festival. Marcello Abbado, the noted Italian musician and composer dedicated a new work to the group, titled "Trio Mondrian".
Trio Mondrian performs regularly in Israel and Europe. Their first recording has been released with works by Brahms and Dvorak. In 2009 the trio has been awarded a fellowship from the Borletti-Buitoni Trust in London after being selected as one of the winners of the Trust for that year.
Ohad Ben-Ari's mastery of the keyboard led to many recitals and concerts around the globe. He played as a soloist, among many others, with Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Munich Opera Orchestra and the Schlezwig-Holstein Music festival Orchestra under the baton of Philippe Entremont, Mendi Rodan and Justus Frantz.
Born in Israel, Ohad entered the Tel Aviv University at the mere age of 13 to study piano with Pnina Salzman and composition with Josef Dorfman. At 16, Ohad moved to Germany, to finish his Studies at the Frankfurter Musikhochschule.
After winning top prizes at numerous international music competitions, including the coveted ARD Competition and the Arthur Rubinstein International Master Competition, Ohad has been touring all five continents as a pianist, playing and recording repertoire ranging from Classical to Jazz and Pop.
In 2006, Ohad has returned to his homeland of Israel to join the faculty of the Tel Aviv University as a chamber music specialist.
From early on, Israeli-Canadian violinist Daniel Bard discovered his passion for chamber music. In Canada, he was a member of the Metro String Quartet which collaborated with artists such as Menahem Pressler, Laurence Lesser, and Gilbert Kalish. He was also a member in chamber groups in Israel and Sweden. As a freelance musician Daniel is often invited to play chamber music concerts in Israel, Europe and North America, both as a violinist and as a violist.
Daniel studied in Toronto with David Zafer and Lorand Fenyves, at Yale University with Peter Oundjian from the Tokyo Quartet and at the Guildhall School in London with David Takeno.
Daniel has participated at festivals such as Prussia Cove, Ravinia's Steans Institute and Styriarte festival in Graz. He is the concertmaster of Sweden’s Camerata Nordica since 2003 and often plays in the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, Amsterdam Sinfonietta and Seiler strings of Toronto. In 2007, he was invited by Tabea Zimmermann to guest lead Camerata Bern and will return there twice in the coming season. Daniel plays a 1631 Nicolo Amati violin generously on loan from Yehuda Zisapel. He made his solo debut with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra performing Waxman’s Carmen Fantasy.
Hila Karni was born in Tel Aviv in 1975 and started performing in the United States and Europe at a young age. Hila studied in the US with Bernard Greenhouse who describes her as “one of the most musically sensitive and technically exciting cellists of the younger generation” and later on with Prof. David Geringas in Lübeck and Berlin. Hila has made many festival appearances, among them Schleswig Holstein, Stresa and Ravinia. Her CD recording of Robert Volkmann’s concerto with the Hamburg Camerata was received with critical acclaim. Hila has performed in halls such as Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Megaron Hall Athen, Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, Palais des Beaux Arts Brüssel, Kölner Philharmonie, Wigmore Hall London, Carnegie Hall NY, Konzerthaus Wien and played with Boris Pergamenschikow, Walter Boeykens, Ralf Gothoni, Bernard Greenhouse, Maxim Vengerov and the Scharoun Ensemble.

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Composer(s)

Maurice Ravel

Joseph Maurice Ravel was a French composer who is often associated with impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composers rejected the term. In the 1920s and 1930s Ravel was internationally regarded as France's greatest living composer.
Born to a music-loving family, Ravel attended France's premier music college, the Paris Conservatoire; he was not well regarded by its conservative establishment, whose biased treatment of him caused a scandal. After leaving the Conservatoire Ravel found his own way as a composer, developing a style of great clarity, incorporating elements of baroque, neoclassicism and, in his later works, jazz. He liked to experiment with musical form, as in his best-known work, Boléro (1928), in which repetition takes the place of development. He made some orchestral arrangements of other composers' music, of which his 1922 version of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition is the best known.
As a slow and painstaking worker, Ravel composed fewer pieces than many of his contemporaries. Among his works to enter the repertoire are pieces for piano, chamber music, two piano concertos, ballet music, two operas, and eight song cycles; he wrote no symphonies and only one religious work. Many of his works exist in two versions: a first, piano score and a later orchestration. Some of his piano music, such as Gaspard de la nuit (1908), is exceptionally difficult to play, and his complex orchestral works such as Daphnis et Chloé (1912) require skilful balance in performance.

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Press

A heartfelt Shostakovich reading with the Mondrian plumbing the work's tragic depths and an expressive Ravel played with precision and polish.
Music Web International, 01-8-2012

Trio Mondrian is a very eloquent trio
Katholiek Nieuwsblad, 15-6-2012

The Trio Mondrian inhabits two very different wolrds on this excellent disc.
Gramophone, 01-4-2012