Trio Quartett Live Recordings SPANNUNGEN festival 2017
Rarely heard of
DVOŘÁK: „In 1876, Dvořák jotted down the Trio in G Minor, op. 26, in a mere 16 days. By that time, some of his masterpieces, including the Moravian Duets and the Stabat Mater, were starting to gain wider recognition – but the encounter with Brahms, which would stabilize him as an artist and clarify his musical tendencies, only took place the following year. Thus, many passages in this trio seem to be groping for direction: as Dvořák specialist John Clapham once remarked, they are still musically “insecure”.
Still, certain traits in this trio already seem to reveal Dvořák’s profound affinity with Brahms on an instinctive level. Gradually emerging from a series of brief motifs, the first movement’s main theme is subjected to thematic treatment throughout. This movement is also the longest, lasting a total of twelve minutes. Its generally gloomy, sombre mood does not yet reflect the true personal style of he who would soon write the Slavonic Dances. Notwithstanding, certain cello cantilenas in the slow movement and towards the end of the sombre, violent scherzo offer a foretaste of the great melodic gifts that Dvořák would soon reveal to the world.
SUK: „…The composition Suk submitted for the final exam is none other than the Piano Quartet in A Minor, op. 1. The first movement’s disarming impetuousness engulfs the listener like a shock wave, betraying not only the influence of Brahms, the true doyen of Late Romantic chamber music, but also that of Dvořák, his own teacher. More significantly, however, a personal style already becomes noticeable in this work. The energetic introductory movement is followed by a clear contrast: a muted, nocturne-like, melodically intense Adagio that sets in with a warm cello cantilena. The second movement’s expressive middle section exudes a fairy-tale-like atmosphere, similar to the one in the incidental music that Suk would later compose for the play Radúz and Mahulena. The final movement begins with a march-like main theme that is alternated with contrasting episodes, thus giving the general structural impression of a rondo… (Excerpts from the Booklet by Pedro Obiera)
Brimming with energy, Antje Weithaas brings her compelling musical intelligence and technical
mastery to every detail in the score. Her charisma and stage presence are captivating, but never
overshadow the works themselves. Her wide-ranging repertoire encompasses a large portion of
major concerto and chamber music works from the Baroque age to the present day.
As a soloist, she has made appearances with a great number of orchestras in Europe and around
the globe, collaborating with conductors such as Vladimir Ashkenazy, Dmitri Kitayenko, Sir Neville
Marriner, Marc Albrecht, Yakov Kreizberg, Sakari Oramo, and Carlos Kalmar.
With her infectious zest for communication, Antje Weithaas has become a sought-after leader in
“Play-Conduct concerts” with internationally renowned chamber orchestras. She was Artistic Director
of the Camerata Bern for almost ten years and still returns to work with them on a regular basis.
Her concerts as Associated Artist of the Orchestre de Chambre de Paris in the 2021/22 season led
to an immediate re-invitation.
Weithaas’s recordings include the solo sonatas of Bach and Ysaÿe, the Ligeti horn trio, Beethoven
quartets, Schubert trios, and the violin concertos of Beethoven, Schumann, Berg, and Khachaturian.
More than anything else, Antje Weihaas is a chamber music musician par excellence and is playing
with many high qualified partners.
She won the Kreisler Competition in Graz in 1987 and the Bach Competition in Leipzig in 1988, as
well as the renowned Joseph Joachim International Violin Competition Hanover in 1991. Together
with Oliver Wille, she recently assumed the artistic directorship of the Joachim competition.
After teaching at the Berlin University of the Arts, Antje Weithaas was appointed to a chair at the Hochschule
für Musik “Hanns Eisler” in 2004, where she has acquired a pre-eminent worldwide reputation
as a violin teacher. She plays on a 2001 Peter Greiner violin. www.antje-weithaas.de
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