 |
 |
 |
|
A world ranking ensemble Like a good wine, good music must also mature. Consciously or unconsciously, Trio Parnassus which was formed in 1982 has followed this maxim in the course of its almost 30-year history. Perfection, love of detail, a keen feeling for moods, and a taste for discovery is what distinguishes Yamei Yu {violin), Michael Gross (cello) and Chia Chou (piano). The reaction of the public and the critics was correspondingly enthusiastic in 1996 at the New York debut in the Great Performers Series at the Lincoln Center, in 1997 at the Masters Series at the London Wigmore Hall, and in 1999 at the National Gallery's Chamber Music Series in Washington. With their recording of all the piano trios of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart that was completed in 1991 and highly acclaimed by the critics, Trio Parnassus immediately won the hearts of chamber music lovers. To date the musicians have recorded all the piano trios of no less than 15 composers, for example also of Ludwig van Beethoven, Johannes Brahms and Robert Schumann. With these recordings in the background Trio Parnassus played its way into the world elite of piano trios. Time and again, with the assistance of musicologists such as the Schumann researcher Joachim Draheim, Trio Parnassus has raised musical treasures from the archives which have been forgotten in the course of time. The research concentrated on the 19th century, so on the period in which this small instrumentation flourished. Trio Parnassus presented the first recordings of treasures like the piano trios of Edouard Lalo, Joseph Rheinberger and Philipp Scharwenka, and successfully brought back the three piano trios of Woldemar Bargiel, a half-brother of Clara Schumann, both in recorded form and also to the concert hall. "This work will also be continued in the years to come," Michael Gross the founder of the ensemble discloses, "hundreds of works are still lying in the archives that haven't been played for decades." Today the concert repertory of Trio Parnassus stretches from early works of the classical period through Romanticism to the modern, so from the first important piano trios composed by Joseph Haydn to Alfredo Casella, Ernest Bloch and Claude Arrieu, and Hans Werner Henze's Kammersonate and Karl-Michael Komma's Dialog mit Schubert. The ingenious striving for interesting programmes also finds its expression in the Trio's chamber music concerts. Here the compact dramaturgy is always in the foreground. For example on two evenings, whose themes are interlinked, compositions centering around Robert Schumann's circle of friends are to be heard. Or on a "Viennese evening" Schönberg's Verklärte Nacht is linked up with the trios of Franz Schubert. Trio Parnassus ventures into the special historical qualities of each composition with great sensitivity, without the musicians disclaiming their own ensemble's sound which is characterized by a latticework of unobtrusive suspense. Thus they lend the necessary severity to Beethoven's trios for example, and play the early works above all with a concentrated tone, free of romantic elements. In the later works, when a change becomes visible in Beethoven, the well-measured glissandi and vibrati that hint at Romanticism are what is important. Although Michael Gross likes to reach for the baroque cello, the three avoid the historicizing that became fashionable in the seventies. "We all play modern instruments," the cellist stresses. "The steel strings of a string instrument and the tonal capacity of a grand piano require a completely different sense of sound than gut strings or a Hammerklavier." In this atmosphere of suspense between history and the modern the ensemble has developed an unmistakable sound of their own. Thus in a comparison of all the complete recordings of the trios of W.A.Mozart the BBC is of the opinion: "But if you prefer modern instruments, there is nothing better than Trio Parnassus. Their interpretations are livelier, more attentive and more imaginative than all other traditional performances." Trio Parnassus continues to follow its path consistently and unwaveringly. Here the collaboration with the record firm Dabringhaus and Grimm which is well- known for audiophile productions and has released all the recordings has proved its worth. "It's not only a commercial but also an artistic partnership," the pianist Chia Chou stresses. "Werner Dabringhaus does the recordings with unbelievable calm and composure." It is out of this calmness that the strength grew to make music like Trio Parnassus. ______________________________________________________________________ Chia Chou, the son of a medical professor, grew up in Toronto, Canada. At the age of four he already learned to play the piano, he won child and youth competitions, and studied at the Faculty of Music at the University of Toronto. In 1978 he continued his studies at the State Academy for Music in Stuttgart under Professor Lieselotte Gierth. After winning the Mendelssohn Competition in Berlin in 1980, one year later he was also awarded the first prize at the Sydney International Piano Competition as the youngest finalist. Chia Chou plays in concert with world-ranking orchestras such as the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the BBC Symphony Orchestra under conductors like Charles Dutoit and James Conlon, and he regularly gives concerts in Europe, Australia and America. In 1983 he was the first Chinese artist living abroad to perform in the People's Republic of China after the Cultural Revolution. Since 1989 Chia Chou, who lives in Stuttgart, has been a member of Trio Parnassus. He is professor for Chamber Music at the University for Music and Performing Arts in Graz, Austria. Yamei Yu was born in Tianjin, PR of China. She studied in Peking with Prof Shengin Huang, later on in Munich with Prof. Gottfried Schneider and completed post-graduate studies with Prof. Christoph Poppen in Berlin. She received further significant inspiration in the master classes of Prof. Denes Zsigmondy and Prof. Ulf Hoelscher. She is prize winner of renowned competitions including the Tibor Varga Competition in Switzerland, the Leopold Mozart Competition in Germany, the Louis Spohr Competition in Freiburg and the ARD International Music Competition in Munich. Yamei Yu has performed as soloist with conductors such as Lord Yehudi Menuhin, Kent Nagano, Yakov Kreizberg, Vladimir Jurowski, Sebastian Weigle, Shao-Jia Lü and Christoph Poppen As a chamber musician Yamei Yu has collaborated with outstanding artists such as Yuri Bashmet, Maria Graf, Eugene Istomin, Gidon Kremer, Boris Pergamenschikow, Radovan Vladkovic, Gustav Rivinius and the Leipziger String Quartet. In May 2005 she became member of the renowned Piano Trio ”Trio Parnassus”. Her festival activities include performances at the Ravinia Festival Chicago, Berlin Festwochen, Bach Festival in Leipzig, Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Oslo Chamber Music Festival, Stuttgart Bach Week, Schubertiade Schwarzenberg and the Schubertiade Figueres in Barcelona. She was principal concertmaster of the Komische Oper in Berlin from 1996 to 2001. In 2001 she became principal concertmaster of the Bavarian Opera in Munich under Zubin Mehta. Yamei Yu plays the ”Tartini” (Antonio) Stradivari, originating from his ”golden period”. Michael Gross already learned to play the cello when he was seven years old. As the holder of a scholarship from the Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes and the German Music Council he studied under Ludwig Hoelscher and Antonio Janigro at the State Academy for Music in Stuttgart and under Pierre Fournier in Geneva. Michael Gross won prizes at the International Chamber Music Competition "Maria Canals" in Barcelona and at the competition of the German Musik Academies. In 1980 he also won the Premio Vittorio Gui in Florence. One year later he was admitted to the German Music Council's concert series Young Artists Podium, and in 1982 he formed Trio Parnassus - originally with other musicians. As principal cellist at the Stuttgart opera, Michael Gross plays a Testore instrument.
|
Latest CD
Prinz Louis Ferdinand
von Preußen (1772-1806)
Complete Piano Trios Vol. 3