Music for a hot summer day in Paris

Details

Azure Trio full profile / Flute, cello, piano / 3 musicians

Other players: Brian Howard, Soraya Verdier

Full program notes

We will be playing three fantastic, highly expressive works for flute/cello/piano trio. We chose these works for our inaugural season in Paris as they demand a great spirit of close collaboration and poetic playing to pull off. It has allowed our ensemble to delve deep, listen hard and develop strong musicality together~
We can't wait to share it with you all :

-Felix Mendelssohn op 49 trio -in four movements, a whirlwind of excitement and délicatesse. Traditionally performed on violin, cello & piano, but we find that it works wonderfully with flute replacing the violin!
-Philippe Gaubert - Trois Aquarelles - a relatively unknown and underplayed gem of french music. Full of poetry and mysterious colors..
-Astor Piazzolla - Oblivion - loved by many, this tune is so much fun to play in trio formation, and full of dramatic feeling.

Historical context

Works for flute, cello and piano are less prevalent than the typical string trio (violin, cello and piano), as string instruments tend to blend more with other string instrument. However, Philippe Gaubert and Felix Mendelssohn knew that adding the flute to the mix could bring a wonderful new levity and singing effect, so they wrote for it as well. We are continuing the tradition by arranging Astor Piazzolla's Oblivion for our group.