Monday at last – Day 5

Monday All Week is exactly what it sounds like: Monday At Last concerts every day, with tons of guests.

In Nebenstück, French composer Gérard Pesson (b. 1958) started from Johannes Brahms’ aching and dreamy Ballade for Piano in B Major from the collection of four Ballades, Opus 10. With guest pianist Christian Ihle Hadland and the ZilliacusPerssonRaitinen trio, reinforced by clarinetist Karin Dornbusch and violinist Irina Simon-Renes, we will have the exclusive opportunity to hear both the model and Pesson’s rewrite of the work from 1998.

As the title reveals, Kurtág’s Hommage for Clarinet, Viola and Piano is a pure tribute to Robert Schumann. It consists of five very short movements, all under one minute, and a concluding movement as long as all the others combined, entitled Abschied, farewell.

Johannes Brahms is in many ways, especially in the songs, an heir of Robert Schumann. This trio, one of few in the standard repertoire with this particular composition, also has many beautifully lyrical lines.