Photo via Prometheus Trio - Facebook
Prometheus Trio
Prometheus Trio (2022)
The Prometheus Trio concludes its 2024–25 season at the Wisconsin Conservatory with music by Mozart, Turina and Shostakovich. They will be joined by guest violinist Emmy Tisdel Lohr and guest violist Nicole Swanson. Lohr, the daughter of Stefanie Jacob and Scott Tisdel, is a member of the Tucson Symphony Orchestra and Swanson, the former Assistant Principal violist in the MSO, is now based in Minneapolis.
The program opens with Mozart’s exciting G Minor Quartet. Composed in 1785 it is a stunning piece, dramatic and complex. According to Alfred Einstein, G Minor is Mozart’s “key of fate,” and is the same key as his Symphony #40. It’s filled with wonderful melodies and concludes in the cheerful key of G Major. At that time compositions for piano and strings was novel. The quartet was commissioned by Mozart’s publisher, who then claimed it was too difficult for amateurs to play, releasing him from his contract for two more piano quartets.
Jacob noted: “This Mozart is one of my favorite pieces of chamber music to play. It has everything: compelling drama in the dark opening movement, gentle lyricism in the second, and virtuosic fun in the finale!”
The Mozart quartet is followed by Turina’s Piano Quartet, the only one he composed. Turina, a native of Andalusia, studied composition in Paris under Vincent D’Indy, himself a student of César Franck. At the urging of Isaac Albéniz, a proponent of Spanish classical music, he returned to Spain when he was 31 and began using folk rhythms and themes from different regions of Spain in his compositions.
Stay on top of the news of the day
Subscribe to our free, daily e-newsletter to get Milwaukee's latest local news, restaurants, music, arts and entertainment and events delivered right to your inbox every weekday, plus a bonus Week in Review email on Saturdays.
Shostakovich’s ‘Famous One’
After intermission the trio returns to play Shostakovich Trio No. 2 in E Minor – “the famous one,” Jacob joked.
Composed towards the end of World War II and the sudden death of his dearest friend, the musicologist Ivan Sollertinsky who died unexpectedly in February 1944 at age of 41, Shostakovich channeled his pain and anguish into this composition. It’s palpable. I can still hear the sounds from when the Trio performed this at the WCM in March of 2017!
It opens with eerie harmonics slowly played by a grieving cello which is quietly echoed by a muted violin. Then comes the thundering chords of disbelief on the piano. I won’t say more as I think hearing this trio in a live performance is a must for any lover of chamber music.
“The Shostakovich #2 is like an old friend for Stefanie and me, we have played it for decades,” said Scott Tisdel. It's really an epic journey that has a number of challenges, not just the beginning. The harmonics don't scare me anymore, I just need to execute. I'm actually thinking about "cello fundamentals" when I play it, like proper shifting motion in the Left Hand and bow contact point in the Right. If I do these things correctly it usually comes out OK, and if it's not perfect, it only adds to the weirdness of the passage! I also add that you need sympathetic colleagues, as the harmonics really need to be imitated by the other two instruments, otherwise they are overwhelmed.
“An equally big challenge for me is the last movement, which has long passages of very loud playing, and endurance can become a big issue. Over the years I've found ways to "back off" slightly, so that I'm not exhausted by the time we get to the end. It's really a uniquely powerful piece in the trio repertoire, and it's always a joy to come back to!”
7 p.m. Monday, April 21, in the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music’s Helen Bader Recital Hall. Complimentary parking is available at Milwaukee Eye Care, 1684 N. Prospect Ave., one block north of the Conservatory. For more information, visit wcmusic.org.
