The Hamilton-based ensemble performs some seriously delightful music slightly off the beaten track, including the world premiere of a work by New Zealand composer Janet Jennings.
New Zealand Chamber Soloists (l to r: Katherine Austin, James Tennant, Lara Hall) Photo: New Zealand Chamber Soloists
Rebecca CLARKE: Piano Trio
Born in England in 1886, Rebecca Clarke studied at the Royal College of Music and became one of the most celebrated violists of her time.
In 1919 she shared first prize in a composition competition with Ernst Bloch for her Viola Sonata. She had entered under a male pseudonym ... such were the times. Her real identity was unveiled after the fact and that led to a minor sensation, but she gained some notoriety and the Viola Sonata was published.
This led on to writing this Piano Trio, which has come to be recognised as her masterpiece.
Perhaps as a response to the recent World War, the trio has a generally turbulent atmosphere.
Bright SHENG: Four Movements for Piano Trio
Written for the Peabody Trio in 1990.
Sheng explains in his programme note that the first movement is like a prelude and has a folkloric style. The second is based on a humorous and joyful folk song from Se Tsuan. The third is a savage dance and the final movement evokes a lonesome nostalgia.
Janet JENNINGS: Persephone in the Underworld
Janet Jennings Photo: supplied
Janet Jennings has been inspired by the Greek goddess Persephone. The daughter of Zeus and Demeter, she’s the queen of the underworld and the goddess of spring growth. She was abducted by Hades and taken to the underworld, but she returns to earth each year, bringing with her the renewal of spring.
Janet Jennings says that this work suggests the dark, cavernous realm of all things lying beneath the earth and Persephone’s fury at her incarceration.
This work is part of '7x7', the series of New Zealand Chamber Soloist commissions: seven works of seven minutes each by seven New Zealand female composers. This is the world premiere performance.
Arno BABAJANIAN: Piano Trio in F# minor
Statue of composer Arno Babajanian in Freedom Square, Yerevan Photo: Andy Mabbett, ex Wikimedia Commons
Although he is not a particularly well-known name here in New Zealand, he’s regarded as a cultural icon in Armenia – he’s even honoured by a dramatic sculpture in Freedom Square in Yerevan. He’s depicted playing a piano, leaning back and looking skyward with one arm thrust back, fingers splayed as if to catch a melody from the air.
This piano trio has three movements and they are linked by a solemn theme first heard in the Largo introduction, played by the violin and cello in unison. Elsewhere, the work is infused with melodies, rhythms and harmonies derived from Armenian folk music.
DVOŘÁK: Piano Trio No 3 in F minor Op 65, Third movement
Played as an encore.
Recorded by RNZ Concert, Auckland Concert Chamber, 10 July 2022
Producer: Tim Dodd
Engineer: Adrian Hollay
