18 Sep 2021

BEETHOVEN: Piano Trio No 5 in D Op 70/1, Ghost

From Music Alive, 8:01 pm on 18 September 2021

This audio is not downloadable due to copyright restrictions.

Performed by the New Zealand Chamber Soloists: Lara Hall (violin), James Tennant (cello), Katherine Austin (piano)

Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, Act I, Scene IV by Henry Fuseli

Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, Act I, Scene IV by Henry Fuseli Photo: public domain

A young Ludwig van Beethoven announced his arrival in Vienna with a set of three piano trios which showed that this man had learnt some solid lessons from Haydn and Mozart but had the originality and audacity to make his own mark ... his Opus 1.

Given that enthusiastic and successful start, it’s perhaps surprising that he didn’t return to the piano trio form for another 13 years or so ... Opus 70.

The first of these two is a favourite of performers and audiences. It’s been dubbed the “Ghost” Trio after its evocative second movement. The nickname is down to Beethoven’s pupil Carl Czerny, who wrote in 1842 that the movement reminded him of the ghost scene in Hamlet.

Recorded by RNZ Concert in Auckland Concert Chamber, 28 March 2021
Sound Engineer: Adrian Hollay
Producer: Tim Dodd

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