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![]() Since its foundation more than 25 and more years ago, this ensemble has unearthed a wealth of musical treasures in the archives and brought them to new life. These include many romantic delights of surprising and captivating quality by composers such as Edouard Lalo, Joseph Rheinberger, Philipp Scharwenka and even Woldemar Bargiel. When passion, empathy and deep insight are placed at the service of such rarities, miracles can occur, as in the case of the tragically short-lived Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia, whose gems of chamber music have just been recorded by the Trio Parnassus in a brilliant and acclaimed set. "Louis Ferdinand's compositions present a real challenge as regards playing technique. All the more impressive is the Trio Parnassus's achievement in their new CD of his piano trios," was the verdict by the Marie Cécile, Duchess of Oldenburg, a Prussian princess by birth and thus a direct descendent of the Prince. The spirited Louis Ferdinand was reputedly a daredevil, and not only on the piano; he was also a fearless soldier whose life was cut short on 10 October 1806 at the battle of Jena. Schumann later called him "the most romantic of all princes". Yamei Yu, Michael Gross and Chia Chou were awarded their second ECHO Klassik prize for their outstanding achievement in October 2008. These three musicians have become one of the world's top piano trios (Classic CD 1999). To date they have recorded the complete piano trios of over twenty composers. |