Zoltán Fejérvári, János Mátyás Stark and Gergely Devich are launching a new series at the BMC to mark the Beethoven Year in 2027. At each of the three concerts in the series, one of Beethoven’s piano trios will be paired with a work in the same genre by another German composer. 

Beethoven composed his Trio in G major at the very beginning of his career, yet it already reveals his innovations elevating the piano trio genre to a new dimension. These include the expansion to four movements – bringing the duration to just over half an hour – and the versatile treatment of the cello, giving it an unprecedented degree of independence. The entire piece is imbued with cheerfulness and a zest for life, just like the outer movements of Brahms’s Trio in C major – for the fourth movement, the composer even uses the tempo marking ‘giocoso’ (playfully, jokingly). The slow movement, often described by many as a bit Hungarian-style, takes its mournful, plaintive theme from one of Brahms’s early songs. The main sections of the Scherzo showcase the eerie side of the minor key, while the middle section conceals one of the composer’s most beautiful melodies.

Further concerts in this series:
9 January 2027: Fejérvári – Stark – Devich: Beethoven+ 3/2.
29 May 2027: Fejérvári – Stark – Devich: Beethoven+ 3/3.