The Trebelle Piano Trio, consisting of Jennifer Dunn, violin; Heidi Nagel, cello; and Robyn Wells, piano, have chosen an interesting repertoire to perform, bringing some beautiful concerts to the Treasure Valley. Piano trios are a very common part of the classic repertoire, favored by composers such as Haydn, Beethoven, Chopin, Mozart and Schumann. The Trebelle Piano Trio will be performing several upcoming concerts in February dedicated to the Russian Romantic composers. As Jennifer Dunn explained, “Robyn, Heidi and I are very excited about our upcoming program, Russian Romance, which features composers Sergei Rachmaninoff, Alexander Borodin, and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. We are also including a fun piece by a living Russian-Australian composer, Elena Kats-Chernin”.
The Trebelle Piano Trio was formed in 2012, when the various members who had collaborated in various duos decided to form a group dedicated to the piano trio form. All three musicians have performed professionally for years, with many different symphony orchestras and chamber groups including the Boise Philharmonic and the Langroise Trio.
Jennifer talked about the program, saying “I have always loved the Russian Romantic composers–and these piano trios were a great find. With Rachmaninoff, you know you’re going to get gorgeous melodies and rich harmonies. He wrote both of his piano trios as tributes to Tchaikovsky. In the one we’re playing, he takes the theme from Tchaikovsky’s 1st Piano Concerto, and turns it upside-down, and transposes it from a major key to a minor key”.
Jennifer continued, “In contrast to the dark tone of the Rachmaninoff trio, Borodin’s trio is very sunny. Because he was such a busy man, he wasn’t able to complete all of his projects, and that is true for this trio. Like Borodin’s piano trio, Rimsky-Korsakov’s piano trio was also unfinished. Rimsky-Korsakov did not dabble very much in chamber music. He even seems to have written it first as an orchestral score. Robyn’s piano part has many places where there are more than two staves, and she has had to figure out how to make them work for two hands!”.
The last piece in the program is very different from the others. Jennifer said about it, “Finally, we’re ending with the Russian Rag, by Elena Kats-Chernin, who was born in the Soviet Union, and migrated to Australia when she was around 18 years old. It’s a fun, light-hearted piece, in contrast to the heavy Risky-Korsakov”.
In choosing the piano trio, the Trebelle Piano Trio is setting the stage for a very intimate performance. In fact, a lot of the pieces in the overall piano trio repertoire from composers like Beethoven are arrangements of larger works. This is in part because the piano trio was considered an ideal form, not only for small chamber groups, but as a popular way for people to play music at home. This should be a wonderful series of performances by the Trebelle Piano Trio and a chance to hear some great music by Russian Romantic composers.
Trebelle Piano Trio presents Russian Romance
Saturday, February 10, 7:30 p.m.
College of Idaho, Jewett Auditorium
2112 Cleveland Blvd, Caldwell, ID 83605
Sunday, February 11, 3:00 p.m.
Eagle United Methodist Church,
651 N Eagle Rd., Eagle, ID 83616
Saturday, February 17, 2:00 p.m.
Cathedral of the Rockies
2717 N 11th St. , Boise, ID 83702
Friday, March 16, 7:30 pm
CSI Fine Arts Auditorium
315 Falls Avenue, Twin Falls, ID 83301
