The Mirror with Three Faces - Delta Piano Trio (ODRADEK RECORDS 2018)

While searching for contemporary piano repertoire on YouTube many years ago, our pianist, Vera, stumbled upon Lera Auerbach’s piano music. She was immediately struck by the powerful expression of Auerbach’s music; the way it conveyed emotions, ideas and images in such a direct and pure way... The second trio by Shostakovich was one of the first pieces we learned as a trio. It’s a highly-charged piece, written in a tragic time and place: a monument to the horrors of war, oppression and personal loss.

                                                                               Delta Piano Trio

The Delta Piano Trio enjoys a special relationship with composer Lera Auerbach. Whilst searching for contemporary repertoire the group fell in love with Auerbach’s piano trios, performing them regularly and, after writing to her about them, enjoying the opportunity to work on this music together with the composer. This experience has given these musicians a unique insight into Auerbach’s piano trios. The title of this CD was inspired by Auerbach’s second piano trio, Tryptych – The Mirror with Three Faces (2012). The work, which is at the heart of this disc, follows the physical construction of a hinged mirror, and Auerbach speaks of it in terms of a theatre piece in which three individuals have their own separate stories but are part of a single entity. Yet there is an ambiguity about the reflection in the mirror – is it three facets of the same person, or three separate images?

Auerbach’s Piano Trio No. 1 is one of her earliest works, with fascinating allusions to 19th- and 20th-century musical traditions, yet with the addition of very specific effects which imbue her music with a unique spectrum of colours. The influence of Shostakovich is audible in Auerbach’s Piano Trio No. 1, and this disc opens with Shostakovich’s Piano Trio No. 2. The opening movement is a paradoxical combination of rigorous counterpoint and ethereal harmonics, followed by a more forceful, rustic and ironic second movement. A mournful passacaglia follows, and the work concludes with a haunting ‘Dance of Death’.

The Delta Piano Trio hails from The Netherlands but met in Austria, where they soon discovered a wonderful personal and music rapport; a unique and infectious friendship which is communicated in the joy and intimacy of their performances. The Delta Piano Trio has performed extensively in Europe, Russia, Israel, China, South Korea and the United States, including concerts at the Salzburg Chamber Music Festival, the New York Chamber Music Festival, and at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam; the Trio has also won prizes at numerous international competitions.

01 – Shostakovich – Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor Op. 67 – I. Andante

02 – Shostakovich – Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor Op. 67 – II. Allegro con brio

03 – Shostakovich – Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor Op. 67 – III. Largo

04 – Shostakovich – Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor Op. 67 – IV. Allegretto

05 – Auerbach – Piano Trio No. 1 – I. Prelude

06 – Auerbach – Piano Trio No. 1 – II. Andante lamentoso

07 – Auerbach – Piano Trio No. 1 – III. Presto

08 – Auerbach – Piano Trio No. 2 Triptych – The Mirror with Three Faces – I. Prelude

09 – Auerbach – Piano Trio No. 2 Triptych – The Mirror with Three Faces – II. First Unfolding

10 – Auerbach – Piano Trio No. 2 Triptych – The Mirror with Three Faces – III. Second Unfolding

11 – Auerbach – Piano Trio No. 2 Triptych – The Mirror with Three Faces – VI. TellÕem What You See

12 – Auerbach – Piano Trio No. 2 Triptych – The Mirror with Three Faces – V. Folding – Postlude