Beethoven: Piano Trios, Vol. 4 Trio VanBeethoven

• Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827): Piano Trio No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 1 No. 3:
• 1 I. Allegro con brio 10:15
• 2 II. Andante cantabile con variazioni 07:47
• 3 III. Menuetto: Quasi allegro 04:02
• 4 IV. Finale: Prestissimo 07:43
• Piano Trio No. 4 in B-Flat Major, Op. 11 "Gassenhauer" (Version for Violin, Cello & Piano):
• 5 I. Allegro con brio 09:39
• 6 II. Adagio 05:10
• 7 III. Allegretto 06:48
• Variations in E-Flat Major on an Original Theme, Op. 44:
• 8 Piano Trio No. 10 12:25
• Total Runtime 01:03:49

Info for Beethoven: Piano Trios, Vol. 4

Volume 4 of the complete recordings of Beethoven's piano trios by the Austrian TrioVanBeethoven opens with the Trio Op. 1/3 in C minor. Preceding this last work of the group of piano trios Op. 1 (1793/94) were a great number of uncounted works and sketches like the Variations Op. 44, whose first drafts can be dated back to as early as the year 1792. The famous “Gassenhauer” Trio Op. 11 which was originally written for clarinet instead of the violin, got its sobriquet (the term “Gassenhauer” was initially used to describe the songs which night-time revellers, perhaps no longer entirely sober, sung while making their way home, often disturbing the slumbers of solid citizens) from the final movement of the work, comprising variations on a then very popular melody from the opera “L’amor marinaro ossia Il corsaro” by Joseph Weigl from 1797. The simplicity of this tune in contrast to the normally more serious and complex writing of Beethoven enthused his contemporary critics, and it was advocated he were to write more natural rather than strained pieces.

Trio VanBeethoven

TriovanBeethoven
Why van Beethoven? Beethoven stands for independence of mind, for revolutionary ideas, for music that reaches far beyond his own time. Beethoven was a lone wolf, but at the same time the central figure to begin new traditions of composing that influenced many of his successors.

Beethoven as a symbol of the three musicians’ closeness to the works of Viennese Classic, but also as a visionary and the creator of a new mode of composition – this fits in with the main mission of the TrioVanBeethoven: the care of the classical trio works, but also the commissioning of new compositions or crossover projects.

In conjunction with the Scottish singers Lorna Anderson (soprano) and Jamie MacDougall (tenor), the TrioVanBeethoven places a focus on Beethoven’s and Haydn’s folksong arrangements in order to present this unique combination of classical music and folksong tradition to a broader public.

In its foundation year in 2011, the Trio held its debut at the renowned Festival Tage der Alten Musik in Herne (Germany). Since then, the ensemble has performed in many countries throughout Europe. They have given guest performances in the Vienna Konzerthaus, at the Brucknerfest Linz, the Festwochen Gmunden, the Haydn Festival Bruhl, in London (Kings Place), at the Pažaislis Music Festival in Lithuania, the Haydn Biennale in Mechelen, Belgium, the Festival Nuova Consonanza in Rome and the Festival Imago Sloveniae in Ljubljana. Since 2014, they are presenting a concert series in Upper Austria (Kremsegg Castle). Highlights in 2016 have been performances in the Wiener Konzerthaus and the Brucknerhaus Linz, where the Trio played Ludwig van Beethoven’s Triple Concerto in the sold out Big Hall.

In 2017 the three musicians have been invited to perform a cycle of three concerts dedicated to Beethoven in the new „MuTh“ concert hall in Vienna. Among other duties, they will be guests at the Musikwochen Millstatt and the Allegro Vivo Festival. Concert tours will lead them to England, Slovakia and Iran.

On the CD market, the renowned label Gramola has just brought out the ensemble’s complete recording of Beethoven’s piano trios.

Clemens Zeilinger, 2011/12 “Artist in Residence” at the Brucknerhaus Linz, counts among Austria’s leading pianists. He was winner of the European Youth Musik Competition in Antwerp and won awards at the European Chamber Music Competition in the Hague and at the Beethoven Competition in Vienna.

As soloist he performed with several renowned orchestras like the Orchestra of the Royal Academy in London, the Bruckner Orchestra in Linz, the Mozarteum Orchestra in Salzburg and the Lower Austrian Symphony. He gave concerts in many European countries, in the USA and Japan as well as in Korea, Morocco, Iran and Oman.

In 2008, Clemens Zeilinger played all of Beethoven’s piano sonatas at the Brucknerhaus in Linz, in 2010 he presented a series of Schubert’s piano works at the same venue.

He teaches at the University of Music in Vienna and at the Anton-Bruckner University in Linz.

Verena Stourzh was a member of the Haydn Trio Eisenstadt from 1998 to its disbanding in 2010 and has an impressive record of numerous concert appearances in Austria and abroad: She has performed at the Konzerthaus and the Musikverein in Vienna, at the Haydn Festival in Eisenstadt (annual subscription concerts), at the Cheltenham Festival in England, in Amsterdam (Concertgebouw), Basel (Stadtcasino), Paris (Louvre), London (King’s Place), Bonn (Beethovenfest), Potsdam (Musikfestspiele Sanssouci), New York City (Metropolitan Museum) and Washington, D.C. (Library of Congress), as well as in Canada, South America, South Africa, Australia and East Asia.

As violinist of the Haydn Trio Eisenstadt Verena Stourzh has presented complete CD-recordings of the piano trios of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert as well as the first complete recording of Haydn’s 429 folksong arrangements of Scottish and Welsh folk songs (with Lorna Anderson and Jamie MacDougall).

Franz Ortner very early established his reputation as soloist and member of chamber music ensembles. He is prize winner of the International Brahms Competition 2004 and the „Gradus ad Parnassum“ Cello Competition in 2005. Furthermore he was recipient of a stipend of the Lucerne Festival Academy directed by Pierre Boulez.

2006-2008 he was the principal cellist of the Lisbon Metropolitan Orchestra (Portugal), 2009-2014 he held the position of first cellist of the Esbjerg Ensemble in Denmark, currently he is a member of the Musikkollegium Winterthur. In 2010 Franz Ortner released a CD with French pianist Caroline Boirot comprising works of Brahms, Fuchs, Kirchner and Schumann, in 2011 he recorded a live-CD featuring Antonin Dvořák’s cello concerto with the Kammerorchester Niederösterreich (Austria).

As a soloist he has recently appeared with the Chamber Orchestra Miskolc (Hungary), the Philharmonie Bad Reichenhall (Germany) and the Kammerorchester Rheinland-Pfalz (Germany). In 2013 he made his debut with the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra.

Booklet for Beethoven: Piano Trios, Vol. 4