Oh...and...
WOOOOHOOOO! :)
This July 11 performance will feature Amy Schwartz Moretti on violin, Efe Baltacigil on cello and Inon Barnaton in piano. Amy is second violin with the Ehnes String Quartet and runs the Music Department at Mercer University in Macon. I first ran across Inon at the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, and he was the organizer of the three-day Schubert festival in Vancouver two months ago. At chamber music performances he uses an I-Pad rather than sheet music.
This is the famous “Ghost” trio, named after its eerie slow movement. It begins with an “allegro vivace e con brio” movement in sonata format. This is middle period Beethoven, and he no sooner gets his first subject rolling than he stops it in mid-sentence. This is his mature style, and he works in shorter fragments, rather than long singing lines. After an F Major bridge, the second subject is in A Major, the correct key, and it has a sense of dance. The exposition is repeated. Development is short and sweet, utilizing both subjects. The recap positions everything in the correct key.
The slow movement, marked “largo assai ed espressivo” in D minor, is the heart of the piece, and it’s not for the faint of heart. It’s eerie, spooky and full of dread. The chromatic passage at the end sounds like someone walking over your grave.
How do you dispel the dark mood for the finale? It’s marked “presto” in D Major, and it’s a light fingered romp. Once again, Beethoven likes to break up his themes before they get too long. It’s in sonata format, so you know what to expect.