A piano trio as a tribute to a friend

Shostakovich composed his Second Piano Trio as an in memoriam for his friend Ivan Sollertinsky, who died in Novosibirsk in 1944. It is more of a personal salute than an outlet for the horrors of war. The furious scherzo portrays not a clash of arms, as is often suggested, but a heated dispute between the two friends. A dream team comes together for the trio: Daniel Rowland, Maja Bogdanović and Anna Fedorova.

Jewish themes play a prominent role in the trio, which forms a great combination with the Jewish songs by Mieczysław Weinberg, here performed by mezzo-soprano Ekaterina Levental and pianist Frank Peters. They receive rave reviews for their CD cycle with Medtner’s complete songs and want to make a case for Weinberg too. They will give a preview in our festival.

Press Quotes

“Met hun hart en ziel zit het helemaal goed. De manier en het niveau waarop Ekaterina Levental en Frank Peters de boodschap overbrengen, maken grote indruk (Het Parool).”

“Nederland mag in vele opzichten zijn zegeningen tellen, de ene ongetwijfeld groter en belangrijker dan de andere, maar tot de meest genoeglijke behoort wel het besluit van de Oekraïense pianist Anna Fedorova om op een goed moment naar Amsterdam te verhuizen. De bevlogen tederheid van haar spel vult iedere ruimte waarin het klinkt met een warmbloedige gloed (NRC).”

“Daniel Rowland toont zich met naakt, kwetsbaar en zeer virtuoos spel een ideaal solist (NRC).”

“Jewish folk music has made a most powerful impression on me. It’s multifaceted, it can appear to be happy while it is tragic. It’s almost always laughter through tears. They express despair in dance music. It is close to my ideas of what music should be. There should always be two layers in music. ”

Dmitri Shostakovich