December 1,3, Friday 5pm, Sunday 4pm
St. Paul's Church, Cardo 6
$400, $300, $150

Bravour Piano Trio - concert

Buzzing with excitement for Canada’s sesquicentennial, we are honored to participate in it with some of the greatest musicians in the country. Delight in the "flawless technique" of pianist Mauro Bertoli, the “burnished… tone” of Jethro Marks, and the "poise and sensitivity" of Paul Marleyn (Toronto star, Chicago Classical Review, The Guardian). Don’t miss this opportunity to celebrate Canada with the classic style of the Bravour Piano Trio on Friday, December 1st at 5 pm and Sunday, December 3rd at 4 pm, at St. Paul’s church on Calle Cardo!

As we dedicate these performances to Canada’s 150th anniversary, it’s interesting to reflect on the role of dedications in music. Of the works that will be played on Friday, Schumann’s Märchenbilder, or Fairy Pictures, has several unique dedications. One dedicatee was Wilhelm Joseph von Wasielewski, a respected violinist, composer, and writer. An intimate friend to the Schumanns, Liszt, and Brahms, the pages of history barely acknowledge him beyond this dedication. Chopin’s Polonaise was dedicated to Joseph Merk, a composer and cellist who had deeply inspired the young composer, claiming that Merk made songs “more beautiful than they really were by his playing, which is so full of soul." Piazzolla’s Le Grand Tango was dedicated to cellist, Mstislav Rostropovich, and was even premiered by him in New Orleans. Shortly thereafter, Piazzolla had a fatal stroke and we lost one of the greatest original musicians. All of these works and more will be featured in Friday’s concert.

On Sunday, we will hear Brahms’ Trio in A Minor, inspired by the beautiful clarinet playing of Richard Mühlfeld, who inspired him to continue composing. The concert also features Prokofiev's Cello Sonata in C major. The composer struggled with censorship all of his life because of his conflicted relationship with the Stalinist government and their control over the arts and all his works are a paen to artistic freedom. The program also includes Mendelssohn’s Viola Sonata in C minor. A child prodigy with an eidetic memory; he played symphonies from memory and learned Greek for fun; the quintessential Renaissance man, writing this impressive piece at the age of 15. Smetana, like Mendelssohn, was also a child prodigy. Sadly, a series of tragic events, including the death of three daughters and his wife, as well as losing his hearing, marred the story of his life. His trio which the Bravour will play was written after the death of his oldest daughter; his incredible suffering seeps from this composition.

Tickets for the concerts at St. Paul’s are $150, $300 and $400 pesos donation each, and are on sale at La Tienda in the Biblioteca Pública; La Conexión; only at Aldama 3; the School of Arts at the Instituto Allende, Ancha de San Antonio 22, and at the concert 45 minutes before performance time.

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