TrioVanBeethoven (Austria)
Verena Stourzh, violin
Franz Ortner, cello
Clemens Zeilinger, piano
Programme:
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827), Trio in G Major, op. 1/2
Ludwig van Beethoven: Trio in B Major, op. 97 „Archduke Trio“
The renowned Austrian ensemble returns to our stage, during the musical year marked by the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth, with two of his piano trios. The first selected work is from the beginning of the artist’s composing journey and belongs to his set of three Piano Trios with the opus number 1 (the compositions were published in 1795). The second Beethoven piece of their choice, Piano Trio Opus 97, which the composer dedicated to his patron, pupil and friend, the Austrian Archduke Rudolf (hence the popular nickname of the piece), was created towards the end of the middle period of the author’s creativity, and is his last creation in the piano trio genre. The premiere performance in 1814 in Vienna, with Beethoven at piano, was one of the last public appearances of the already deafened composer.
For the members of the chamber ensemble bearing Beethoven’s name, the composer’s work and personality are an inexhaustible inspiration – an example of an upright, independent mind, revolutionary ideas, and music that reaches far beyond his own time. Performing Beethoven’s work, musicians feel their own closeness to the works of Viennese Classic, and recognize a symbol of visionary and new mode of composition.
In its founding year in 2011, the Trio held its debut at the renowned festival “Tage der Alten Musik” in Herne (Germany). Since then, the ensemble has performed in many countries throughout Europe, in Iran, and in China. They have appeared at the Vienna Konzerthaus, the Brucknerfest Linz, the Festwochen Gmunden, the Liszt Festival Raiding, the Haydn Festival Bruhl (DE), the Festspiele Europäische Wochen Passau, in London Kings Place, Glasgow and Edinburgh (GB), at the Pažaislis Music Festival in Kaunas (LT), the Haydn Biennale in Mechelen (BE), the Festival Nuova Consonanza in Rome (IT), the International Chamber Music Festival in Esbjerg (DK), and at the Festival Rencontres Musicales en Artois (FR). From 2014 to 2018, the Trio presented a concert series in Kremsegg Castle (Austria), since 2017 they played 3 concerts dedicated to Beethoven in the MuTh concert hall in Vienna. For the renowned Austrian music publisher Gramola the ensemble has released all of Beethoven’s piano trios on 4 CDs. Austrian Classical Radio has awarded this recording with the Ö1 Pasticcio-Prize. In July 2018 they recorded Beethoven’s arrangements of Scottish, Irish and Welsh folksongs with the same publisher (vocally performed by soprano Lorna Anderson and tenor Jamie MacDougall).
Verena Stourzh was a member of the Haydn Trio Eisenstadt from 1998 till its disbanding in 2010, and has an impressive record of concert appearances in Austria and abroad. She has performed at the Konzerthaus and the Musikverein in Vienna, at the Haydn Festival in Eisenstadt, at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Stadtcasino Basel, Louvre Auditorium Paris, Kings Place London, the Cheltenham Festival, Beethovenfest Bonn, Musikverein Zagreb, Festival EuroArt Prag, International Performing Arts Center Moscow, Kiev Philharmonic, International Center of Performing Arts Beijing, Metropolitan Museum New York, Library of Congress Washington, as well as in Canada, South America, South Africa, Australia and East Asia. As the violinist of the Haydn Trio Eisenstadt Verena Stourzh released complete CD-recordings of the piano trios by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert, as well as the first complete recording of Haydn’s 429 folksong arrangements of Scottish and Welsh folk songs (with Lorna Anderson, soprano and Jamie MacDougall, tenor).
Verena Stourzh plays a violin of Carlo Ferdinando Landolfi from 1770.
As a soloist and chamber musician, Franz Ortner acquired an international reputation at an early age. He won prizes at the International Brahms Competition in 2004, and at the Cello Competition „Gradus ad Parnassum“ in 2005, and was also a scholarship holder of the Lucerne Festival Academy under Pierre Boulez for two years. From 2006 to 2009, Franz Ortner was the principal cellist of the Metropolitan Chamber Orchestra in Lisbon (Portugal), and from 2009 to 2014, the cellist of the Esbjerg Ensemble in Denmark. Currently he is a member of Musikkollegium Winterthur, Switzerland, as well as of the Le Concert Olympique, Belgium. As a soloist, he has played with the Bad Reichenhaller Philharmonie, the Kammerorchester Rheinland-Pfalz, the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, and the Musikkollegium Winterthur. In 2010, together with the pianist Caroline Boirot, Franz Ortner released a CD with works by Brahms, Fuchs, Kirchner, and Schumann, and in 2011 a live CD with the Cello Concerto by Antonín Dvořák.
Franz Ortner plays a cello of Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume from 1856.
Clemens Zeilinger, winner of the European Youth Music Competition in Antwerp, and the recipient of awards at the European Chamber Music Competition in Hague, and at the Beethoven Competition in Vienna, ranks among Austria’s leading pianists. As a soloist he has performed with renowned orchestras such as the Orchestra of the Royal Academy in London, the Bruckner Orchestra in Linz, the Mozarteum Orchestra in Salzburg, and the Tonkünstler Orchestra of Lower Austria. He has given concerts in many European countries, as well as in the USA, Japan, Korea, Morocco, Iran, and Oman. In 2008, Clemens Zeilinger played all of Beethoven’s piano sonatas at the Brucknerhaus in Linz, in 2010 he presented a series of Schubert’s piano works and was artist in residence at the same venue in 2011/12. He teaches at the University of Music in Vienna and at the Anton-Bruckner University in Linz.
Admission free. Free tickets can be picked up the last hour before the concert at the entrance to the City Museum. The number of seats is limited, so we advise you to arrive a little earlier.
Due to safety measures to contain the spread of COVID-19 infections, all visitors must wear protective facemasks, disinfect their hands regularly, and observe a safety distance of at least 1.5 m. According to the NIJZ regulation, the collection of personal data of all visitors is mandatory, the data must be kept for 30 days. Entry to the event is only possible with a ticket, visitors are asked to enter the venue individually, hostesses will accompany them to a vacant seat. To ensure safety, we kindly ask all visitors to strictly follow the instructions. If you suspect that you have come in contact with the coronavirus or are showing typical signs of the disease, do not attend the event. Let’s take care of ourselves and our loved ones.
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