Isabelle Faust, Alexander Melnikov & Teunis van der Zwart

Over het evenement

Isabelle Faust, Alexander Melnikov, and Teunis van der Zwart perform chamber music of Schubert, Brahms, and Ligeti at the Auditorium of the Dijon Opera.

“I was out walking one morning, and the moment I arrived there the sun began to shine brightly between the trunks of the trees: the idea for the Trio immediately came to mind with its first theme.” In these words Brahms described to his friend Dietrich how this miraculous trio came to mind during one of his walks in the environs of Baden in 1864. The horn is by nature the romantic instrument of choice, and this score opening onto the landscapes of the Black Forest where Brahms stayed provides overwhelming proof, its sound magnifying the poetic and marvellously evocative atmosphere of the piece. The trio formation of violin, piano and horn is extremely unusual in music, and few composers took an interest in exploring the mix of colours and contrasts it provides. It is precisely in homage to Brahms’ Trio op.40 that Ligeti took up this formation in 1982, marking an important passage in the development of his style: pure harmonies based on consonances, recourse to the passacaglia form in the last movement, all elements that we find in these contemporary scores. The Sonatine d.385 is one of Schubert’s few existing scores for piano and violin, which is surprising given that he practiced both instruments since childhood.

It is therefore with great pleasure that we find Isabelle Faust, accompanied by Teunis van der Zwart and Alexander Melnikov, in three rare and exceptional works, that you owe it to yourself to discover.