Monday at Last with Piano Trio

The Monday at Last series is where Cecilia Zilliacus and Kati Raitinen invite guest artists and, together, present both new and older music. This time, the series welcomes the Armenian-Danish pianist Marianna Shirinyan. She enjoys a successful career both as a soloist and chamber musician and is a regular guest at a number of international festivals.

Here, we move between styles and eras. Contemporary music predominates, but we also hear keyboard works by the Italian Baroque composer Domenico Scarlatti, as well as a romantically lyrical violin sonata by Franz Schubert. Note also Betsy Jolas – the French-American composer who turns 100 this year and is at the centre of the Composer Festival in November. Here, we hear excerpts from Femme le soir (“Woman in the Evening”) for cello and piano. The work is like a song cycle without words, shaped by Jolas’s lifelong love of song.

The Danish composer Hans Abrahamsen has attracted considerable attention in recent years. His piano études are far more than the “practice pieces” their title might suggest. Less well known to us is the Armenian composer Arno Babajanian (1921–83) – likely a new name for many. He was one of Armenia’s leading composers, and this piano trio from 1952 is among his most important works – the yearning Andante movement, for example, is a true gem.