PROGRAM REVIEWS
PROGRAM REVIEWS for the individual concerts will be posted here as they become available.
LYSANDER PIANO TRIO, OCTOBER 24, 2024
At the opening of our 2024-2025 season, the Chamber Music Society of Utica presented the renowned Lysander Piano Trio. The concert was sponsored by Rona Lukas and Betty Lou Frye and enthusiastically introduced by our President Susanna Watling.
The concert took place on October 24, 2024 at 2:30 PM at Munson in Utica and was also live-streamed via CMSU’s website www.uticachambermusic.org. The program included works by Ludwig van Beethoven, Amanda Maier and Robert Schumann.
The Lysander Piano Trio , whose name was inspired by the character in A MidSummer Night’s Dream, was formed at the Juilliard School where they studied and coached with many renowned teachers and coaches!
Beethoven’s Ghost Trio,opus 70 no. 1, coinciding with Halloween, revealed the ensemble’s warmth of sound and supreme dynamic sensitivity. A rhythmic fervor permeated throughout and it was truly a dramatic opening work!
The second work, Piano Trio in E Flat Major, was by the Swedish composer , Amanda Maier, It revealed many Swedish folk songs and it was a highly romantic piece that had rich harmonies and beautiful melodies.
The third and final work on the program was the Piano Trio no. 1 in D Minor by Robert Schumann . Each movement mirrored the struggle that Schumann experienced in his life. As the work came to a close, both a definite and emphatic rhythmic pulse brought this concert to a jubilant conclusion.
It was a wonderful afternoon of Chamber Music attended by our many Subscribers, their friends and international students from Utica University who were truly excited and grateful to be in attendance.
Following the concert an elegant reception was held in Fountain Elms where the audience could meet the artists and enjoy talking with their friends. Anita Humer, board member and pianist.
Anita Humer
Professional pianist, accompanist and piano teacher
former staff pianist at Colgate University
Serves on boards of CMSU, the Leschetizky Piano Organization, NYC
and the Monday Evening Music Club of Norwich NY
The Lysander Trio navigated a survey of 19th century romanticism in the opening concert of CMSU’s 84th season – two repertoire staples and one novelty. Appropriate for the Halloween season, Beethoven’s 1808 D major Trio, nicknamed “Ghost” for its mysterioso second movement, began the concert with an energetic reading.
A nearly forgotten work that this group has championed for the last few years, Amanda Maier’s Piano Trio in E flat major, came next. Maier was an accomplished violinist and composer whose career flourished in the 1870s when this piece was written. Filled with folk songs and lively rhythms of her native Sweden, the Trio’s performance reflected their love of this rarely heard work.
Finally, Robert Schumann’s first Piano Trio written in 1847 concluded this Romantic program. The Lysander Trio put their “heart and soul” into this expressive performance, delighting in Schumann’s narrative of struggle and eventual triumph.
John Orr
Former Assistant Director of the Philadelphia Orchestra
AND FROM OUR AUDIENCE
Emerson Mull, age 6
One of our youngest audience members
Click on each page to enlarge.
