"Good contrasts, supple and elegant movements, deep and poetic gestures – all work together with intelligence and just as much spontaneity to give the music a magnetic presence. It is a gripping interpretation full of inner tension that never lacks the genuinely French elegance of the music."
Pizzicato, 19-4-2023In Search of lost Dance
“In the face of change, memory becomes precious. This is especially true for Maurice Ravel whose important source of creativity lies in evoking the memories of music from the past. In Ravel’s hand, these memories are delicately suspended between decadence and invention, between nostalgia and progressiveness. Such memories reside in the body, in the form of half-forgotten dances, to be simultaneously recalled and reinvented.
The Linos Piano Trio’s In Search of Lost Dances recording centres on the time of greatest change in Ravel’s life, juxtaposing his seminal Piano Trio, written weeks before the outbreak of the First World War, with Le Tombeau de Couperin, written between 1914 and 1917—each of its six movements dedicated to a friend lost to the war. Mirroring each other, the baroque dances of Le Tombeau illuminate the less obvious dances hidden in the Piano Trio, while the textural innovation in the Piano Trio serves as a model for Linos to reimagine Le Tombeau in this new trio arrangement. These two major works are complimented by Pavane pour une Infante défunte (also transcribed by Linos), a much earlier work evoking the stately 16th century Spanish dance. Marcel Proust, whose epic book In Search of Lost Time was the inspiration for the title of this recording, loved Pavane pour une Infante défunte and had it played at his own funeral.
While both the titles of the Pavane and Le Tombeau have funereal overtones, the music itself is vivid and full of light. It is as if through these backward-glancing dances, Ravel processed his losses. However, the emphasis for us in In Search of Lost Dances is not on the “lost”, but rather on the “search”: a new path through these three well-known pieces, re-finding their novel ingenuity.” (Linos Piano Trio)
On period instruments
Konrad Elias-Trostmann Violin (Peter Greiner 2010, after Guarneri del Gesù 1743. Gut strings (3 plain, 1 wound) Vladimir Waltham Cello (Naples ca. 1880. Gut strings (2 plain, 2 wound) Brach Boondiskulchok Piano (Érard Concert Grand 1882 No. 56105)
Auf der Suche nach dem vergangenen Tanz
„Während eines Zeitenwechsels wird das Gedächtnis immer wertvoller. Das trifft vor allem für Maurice Ravel zu, der immer wieder Vergangenes aufnahm und daraus Kreatives schaffte. Eine Zeit zwischen Dekadenz und Erfindung, zwischen Nostalgie und progressivem Denken. Die schlummernden Erinnerungen werden erinnerungsgemäß ggf. zu halbwegs vergessenen Tänzen, die einerseits wiederaufleben und andererseits neu geschaffen werden.
Linos Piano Trios Album In Search of Lost Dance bezieht sich auf die Umbruchzeit in Ravels Leben zum einen mit dem Klaviertrio, das wenige Monate vor dem 1. Weltkrieg entstand, mit Le Tombeau de Couperin, entstanden zwischen 1914 und 1917—jeder Satz einem gefallenen Freund gewidmet.
Das Klaviertrio und die Struktur von Le Tombeau de Couperin haben enge gemeinsame und verwandte Strukturen. Und diese werden komplimentiert durch Pavane pour une infante défunte, das viel früher entstand und die frühen spanischen Tänze und Rhythmen des 16. Jahrhunderts aufleben läßt.
Marcel Prousts epischer Roman Auf der Suche nach der verlorenen Zeit war die Inspirationsquelle zu diesem Album und hat mit der Pavane pour une infante défunte eine enge Verbindung, wurde das Stück doch bei Prousts Beerdigung gespielt.
Obwohl beide Titel Pavane and Le Tombeau durchaus düstere Hintergründe haben, ist die Musik lebendig und voller Licht. Es kommt einem vor, als ob Ravel durch diese altertümlichen Rückblicke seine Vergangenheit verarbeitete.
Allerdings liegt für uns der Schwerpunkt des Titels nicht auf dem „Verlust“ sondern auf der „Suche“: nach einem neuen Pfad durch diese drei sehr bekannten Stücke die neuartige Genialität zu finden.“
On period instruments
Konrad Elias-Trostmann Violin (Peter Greiner 2010, after Guarneri del Gesù 1743. Gut strings (3 plain, 1 wound))
Vladimir Waltham Cello (Naples ca. 1880. Gut strings (2 plain, 2 wound))
Brach Boondiskulchok Piano (Érard Concert Grand 1882 No. 56105)
The Linos Piano Trio brings together the members’ five nationalities and three musical voices into
their single artistic vision, which pushes at the boundaries of the trio genre: championing hidden
gems and creating new trio transcriptions alongside the great works of the trio repertoire.
Praised for its “slow-burning, gripping performance” (The Strad), and “virtuosity, presence of mind,
and wit” (Süddeutsche Zeitung), the Linos Piano Trio’s reputation has taken it to prestigious stages
and festivals internationally. The trio’s first two recordings both received nominations for OPUS
Klassik and several five-star reviews from across the European press.
The latter, Stolen Music (BR& CAvi-music), won a Best-List award for chamber music at the Deutsche Schallplattenkritik 2022.
Among other prizes and affiliations, the Linos Piano Trio was the 1st Prize and Audience Prize winner
of the Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition 2015 and since 2017 holds the position
of Carne Ensemble-in-Residence at Trinity Laban Conservatoire.
Linos (Λῖνος), in Greek mythology, was a son of Apollo. He received from his father the three-stringed
lute, and became known as the inventor of new melodies, lyric songs, and eloquent speech. He was
the teacher of Heracles and his brother Orpheus.
Thai-British musician Prach Boondiskulchok
enjoys a diverse career as a pianist, historical keyboardist, and composer. He studied piano and composition at the Guildhall School as a Princess Galyani Vadhana Scholar. He is a founding member of the Linos Piano Trio.
Beyond his ensemble, Prach collaborates widely including recitals with Roger Chase, Steven Isserlis, Leonid Gorokhov.
His compositions include Night Suite (2014) praised by George Benjamin for its “ingenuity and imagination,”
Ritus (2019) for Endellion String Quartet’s 40th Anniversary, and Ligatures (2021) for IMS Prussia Cove. A committed educator and scholar, Prach currently teaches chamber music at Royal College of Music London, is a Researcher of historical keyboards at the Orpheus Institute, Ghent.
Praised for his “perfectly poised“ (The Strad) music-making and “beautiful tone, articulated like speech“
(Klassikfavori), London-born German-Brazilian violinist Konrad Elias-Trostmann’s vivid performance
style and natural flair for entertaining break down the wall often found between audience and performer.
Chamber music performances have brought him to venues from New York to São Paulo, and Konrad
regularly appears in world-renowned orchestras such as the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen.
Currently based in Cologne, he enjoys a vibrant social life in whichever city he happens to be, and gathering
inspiration from some of his greatest musical influences such as Whitney Houston and Dolly Parton.
Berlin-based French-born multi-faceted musician Vladimir Waltham is equally at home on Cello,
Baroque Cello, and all sizes of da Gamba instruments. Praised for his “luminous tone” by Gramophone,
Vladimir is passionate about sharing the broadest possible musical palette, in repertoire
spanning from the Middle Ages to collaborations with composers and world premieres as well as
everything in between.
Vladimir has performed in concert halls all around the world with his ensembles
the Linos Piano Trio and La Serenissima, but also regularly appears as a guest soloist and
chamber musician in halls and festivals worldwide.
Good contrasts, supple and elegant movements, deep and poetic gestures – all work together with intelligence and just as much spontaneity to give the music a magnetic presence. It is a gripping interpretation full of inner tension that never lacks the genuinely French elegance of the music.
Pizzicato, 19-4-2023
Play album
