Photo via Prometheus Trio - Facebook
Prometheus Trio
Prometheus Trio (2022)
The Prometheus Trio opens its 2054-26 season at the Wisconsin Conservatory with music by Mozart, Borodin and Saint-Saëns. Stefanie Jacob and Scott Tisdel will be joined by Yuka Kadota, first violinist with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra.
The program opens with Mozart’s Trio in B-flat Major, K. 502. A delightful, uplifting piece! You’ll be smiling after the first few notes and think “good old Wolfgang didn’t hold back on this one!” Composed in 1786 when Mozart was about to turn the BIG 3–0, you can almost hear him laughing, as he scored one sweet note after then next. And then comes the Larghetto, a slowly unfolding theme stated by the piano which is coaxed on by the violin and cello. No rushing here; simply sit back, relax, and enjoy. And then the Allegretto—where one must fight not to hum along.
The last season ended with Mozart’s G minor quartet about which Jacob noted: “This Mozart is one of my favorite pieces of chamber music to play.” I asked for an update. “I don’t think there’s a piece of Mozart chamber music that I don’t enjoy playing, but I definitely have my favorites, and this trio, like the G Minor piano quartet, is at the top of my list!” she said.
Mysterious Music
This is followed by Borodin’s Trio in D Major, “A mystery in an enigma.” Most likely it was composed while Borodin was in Italy in the 1860s. The manuscript lay buried in the Russian State Institute for Performing Arts where it was discovered and first published in 1950. It is in three movements, the last being a minuet which was not typical for that time. Jacob: “This piece absolutely feels incomplete, lacking a finale, but we haven’t seen any references to one. When he wrote it, Borodin was very busy with his non-musical profession as a chemist and an inventor, and it’s quite possible that he just didn’t get to it.”
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.
After intermission, the Trio will perform Saint-Saëns’ Trio No. 2 in E Minor, Op. 92. Composed in 1891-92. This, like the Borodin Trio, is a romantic composition but quite different in character. It has five movements (perhaps making up for the one Borodin “missed”) and while Borodin runs off like a Russian, Saint-Saens is stable and upright, thoroughly French. This is an impressive trio, one that had some call him the French Mozart. It’s really a wonderful composition that you’ll want to hear more than once.
The piano part is heroic, of Olympic proportions. As Jacob puts it, “It’s such a wonderful piece—yes, quite a workout for the pianist, but entirely worth it!”
Prometheus Trio perform 7 p.m. Monday, Sept. 29 in the Helen Bader Recital Hall of the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music. Complimentary parking is available at Milwaukee Eye Care, 1684 N Prospect Ave, one block north of the Conservatory. For tickets, visit wcmusic.org
