Slavic Rêverie

Few really important works have been written for piano quintet. Besides those by Schumann and Brahms, Antonín Dvořák's second Piano Quintet is worth mentioning. With its folk character, melodic ingenuity and compelling rhythms, this quintet is one of his top works. Or as renowned critic Eduard Hanslick commented after its performance in Vienna, "It is one of his finest works, a real Dvořák!" This composition combines Dvořák's expressive lyricism with elements of Czech folk music. As a boy, Dvořak helped out in his father's café. The melodies he heard there would later become a source of inspiration for his compositions.

You will also hear Sergei Rachmaninov's passionate Trio élégiaque for violin, piano and cello. He was known as a famous piano virtuoso and few know that he wrote chamber music in addition to major orchestral works. This Trio is unusual as it consists of only one movement and displays beautiful colours and great melodic ingenuity. For instance, the repetitive motif at the beginning of the work is said to contain the exact opposite rhythm as the first bars of Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto. Let it not be a coincidence that both Dvořák and Rachmaninov had a great admiration for Tchaikovsky.

Pianist Kirsten Gedeshi and the Gothoni Quartet take us to the idyllic mountains and forests of Vysoká.

Antonín Dvořák, Piano Quintet No. 2, op. 81
Sergei Rachmaninov, Trio élégiaque for violin, cello and piano No.1

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with Kirsten Gedeshi (piano), Takashi Lorenz Waschkau (violin), Ferdinand Eppendorf (violin), tbc (viola) and Yubin Kong (cello)