trio con brio copenhagen                  soo-jin hong violin soo-kyung hong cello jens elvekjaer piano

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Press Trio con Brio Copenhagen   SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL CONCERT REVIEW Music Web International´s Worldwide Concert and Opera Reviews Hans Abrahamsen, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky: Trio con Brio Copenhagen, Caspary Auditorium, Rockefeller University, New York City. 27.10.2010 (BH) Hans Abrahamsen: Traumlieder for Piano Trio (1984/2009) Beethoven: Piano Trio in D major, Op. 70, No. 1 “Ghost” Tchaikovsky: Piano Trio in A minor, Op. 50 Trio con Brio Copenhagen Soo-Jin Hong, violin, Soo-Kyung Hong, cello, Jens Elvekjaer, piano  In the appealingly retro geodesic dome that is Rockefeller University’s Caspary Auditorium, the young Trio con Brio Copenhagen began its program with the New York premiere of Traumlieder for Piano Trio by Hans Abrahamsen. Originally written as piano pieces, the work had a second life as a horn trio, before finding its third incarnation here. The six short movements owe a debt to Webern, with the music often materializing in languid pools, punctuated by silence. A striking “Marcia funebre” seems to linger in the air, and the final “For the children” has bell-like effects for the piano against a backdrop of sustained pianissimo notes in the strings. Abrahamsen is one of Denmark’s most important living composers, making the Trio’s eloquent performance even more welcome, since his work is not often seen on concert programs, at least in New York City. Beethoven’s famous “Ghost” Piano Trio was packed with confidence, plus meticulous dynamic shading; rollicking sections contrasted with somber ones, almost inaudible (where appropriate). The second movement “Largo” seemed to offer listeners an entrance into a private world, with Jens Elvekjaer, the pianist, offering a ruminative piano line. In the final “Presto,” the trio—with sisters Soo-Jin Hong on violin and Soo-Kyung Hong on cello—showed that delicacy and strength can co-exist, especially in the movement’s exciting canonic entrances. But the real prize came after intermission: a grandly scaled, dramatic reading of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Trio in A minor. In the opening pages, the 1731 Testore cello used by Soo-Kyung Hong was shown at its most soulfully extravagant, and soon joined by sensuous tone from her collaborators. (Her sister uses a 17th century Guarneri violin, and Mr. Elvekjaer is the first Steinway artist from Denmark.) The first movement lands on an ending almost impossibly serene. The fanciful second movement, a theme and variations, shows the composer’s astonishing range, from quietly intimate to sweepingly grandiose—and even a fugue makes an appearance. In the “Variazione Finale” the tempo begins sounding “vivace,” but as the piece nears its conclusion the tempo slows and the energy diminishes, as if life itself is gradually ebbing away. In the final bars, the strings drop out completely and the piano has the last, lone word. The grateful Rockefeller audience waited in silence before breaking out into cheers. Later I asked some friends why this piece doesn’t show up more often, and the reply: “Too difficult.” You’d never know that from the glowing, effortless reading by these sparkling young musicians.  Bruce Hodges Fyens Stiftstidende 20.7.2010 KONCERT, NYBORG SLOTSKONCERTER: OLLI LEPPÄNIEMI MED TRIO CON BRIO COPENHAGEN Fire begavede musikere i intelligent sammenspil ”Kontraster” var titlen på koncertens første programpunkt.   Bartók, 1940, for klarinet, violin og klaver.   Et lille folkloristisk tre-satset værk, med voldsomme sats-kontraster mellem det smukt sangbare og det vilde sigøjner-ridt, men også med kontrastvirkninger mellem instrumenternes melodistumper, abrupte, helstøbte, urimelige og selvfølgelige.    Alt sammen her fortolket på klarinetten af vinderen af Carl Nielsen-Konkurrencen 2009.  Landets bedste klavertrio Olli Leppäniemi havde til sin koncert allieret sig med den verdensberømte danske Trio Con Brio Copenhagen.   Det var et herligt valg, for her har vi jo landets p.t. bedste klavertrio, der på så mange måder distancerer sig fra de allerfleste andre af slagsen: Hver eneste tone og passage hos dem er gennemtænkt, gennemarbejdet, leveret med et intelligent overskud, med en dybde og en bredde og en forståelse, som man hver gang overrumples af.   De suger tilhørerne ind i deres univers, og slipper os ikke. Det kom tydeligt frem i Mendelsohns d-mol klavertrio, hvor den vidunderlige romantiske musik næsten spiller sig selv, og hvor Trio Con Brio Copenhagen i deres spil er så gennemført lydhøre over for musikkens inderste, og formidler dette til os.   I Brahms’ Klarinettrio i a-mol er klarinet og cello i smukkeste harmoni, et forelsket par, og deres dybe lejer matcher hinanden perfekt.  Stor aften Igen her viste DR-symfoniorkestrets nye soloklarinettist sit bedste spil, kattemildt og inderligt, selvstændigt, men i fuld egalitet med de to medspillere. Trio Con Brios intelligente sammenspil harmonerede perfekt med Olli Leppäniemis klarinetspil, som gled så smukt ind i helhederne.   Bragende bifald fra den propfyldte riddersal honoreredes med en verdenspremiere: en sats fra Beethovens Trio op. 11 - nu som kvartet. Sådan! Stor aften på slottet.    Om koncerten   Nyborg Slotskoncerter, søndag, Olli Leppäniemi, klarinet, Trio Con Brio Copenhagen: Soo-Jin Hong, violin, Soo-Kyung Hong, cello, Jens Elvekjær, klaver.  From Music in Cincinnati, www.musicincincinatti.com Trio con Brio Copenhagen One for the Season Posted in: Reviews By Mary Ellyn Hutton Oct 27, 2010 - 11:30:35 PM Trio con Brio Copenhagen Haunted houses, tales from the crypt, monster mashes.  There’s a lot of Halloween fare to choose from this time of year, musical and otherwise. Whether they knew it or not, Trio con Brio Copenhagen was right in tune Tuesday evening (October 26) in Werner Recital Hall at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. It wasn’t just Beethoven’s “Ghost” Trio that did the trick.  You could find linkage in Tchaikovsky’s Piano Trio in A Minor, R.I.P. Nicholas Rubenstein, and even Danish composer Hans Abrahamsen’s 2009 “Traumlieder” ("Dream Songs"). Presented by Chamber Music Cincinnati, the award-winning Trio, recipient of the 2005 Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson International Trio Award, treated their listeners to a remarkable and rewarding demonstration of their prowess, individual and otherwise.  Danish pianist Jens Elvekjaer, violinist Soo-Jin Hong and cellist Soo-Kyung Hong (both natives of Korea), are an ensemble in the truest sense of the word, a unity whose combined music-making tempts the word “perfect.” They opened with Abrahamsen’s “Traumlieder," an arrangement of his 1984 “Six Pieces for Horn, Violin and Piano” in its Midwest premiere.  The composer’s biography describes him as a product of the1960s “New Simplicity” movement in Denmark, which emphasized clarity in reaction to the complex, mid-century modernism then in style.  His music has evolved through “poetic” (romantic) to organic and inclusive, with continuing emphasis on structure.  This does not necessarily mean easy to listen to (or apprehend).  In remarks before the performance, pianist Elvekjaer noted that the third movement of the “Traumlieder,” “Scherzo misterioso” has a structure that may be simple, i.e. tone rows that intersect and interact by design, but incomprehensible to the ear. The six movements are brief and bear evocative titles.  “Serenade” was counter-intuitive: soft, halting and astringent.  “Arabesque” sped by, with repeated violin rhythms and a furious buildup that quickly evaporated.  “Blues” briefly evoked Gershwin’s Piano Preludes.  "Funeral March" exploded, with intense vibrato and snap pizzicato by the strings.  Engines raced in the Scherzo, while the final movement, “For Children” grew ethereal, ending with a piano melody and a high, long-held harmonic by the violin. Beethoven’s Op. 70, No. 1, dubbed “Ghost” -- but not by Beethoven -- got its name because sketches for the slow movement were found among his notes for an opera based on Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” (the opera was never written).  Witchy or not, the second movement, Largo assai ed espressivo, is dark and brooding, with spooky tremolos by the strings.  The opening Allegro vivace e con brio, is brighter, taking off in a rush of energy before laying down the movement’s thematic materials.  The Presto finale is brighter still, even merry, and brought the work to an optimistic conclusion.  Trio Copenhagen performed all of this with extraordinary precision.  Communication among the three musicians was amazing, and one felt that they thought, moved and even breathed together, irresistibly drawing the listener in.  (The Trio is a family, by the way.  Soo-Jin and Soo-Kyung are sisters and Soo-Kyung is married to Elvekjaer.) Tchaikovsky’s Piano Trio, subtitled “To the Memory of a Great Artist,” is only two movements, but close to 50 minutes long.  The first he called Pezzo elegiac (“Elegiac piece”).  The second is a Theme and Variations with a two-pronged ending:  Variazioni Finale e Coda, marked  Allegretto risoluto e con fuoco (“resolute and with fire”) and Andante con moto -- Lugubre (“mournful”). If this sounds programmatic, it is.  Tchaikovsky wrote the Trio following the death of his friend Nicholas Rubenstein, pianist and director of the Moscow Conservatory.  The Variations supposedly refer to a day the two men spent in the country, and each of the 11 Variations, rather like Elgar’s “Enigma” Variations, marks some aspect of Rubenstein’s life or career (Tchaikovsky did not elaborate further). The Trio is not heard that often.  For one thing, it is extremely difficult for the pianist, having been written in homage to a great pianist (Rubenstein).  Elvekjaer showed his mastery here, dispatching thickets of notes with apparent ease and aplomb.  At the same time, he refrained from dominating the ensemble and worked in total concert with the other two instruments. The Elegy was passionate and heroic, with some tricky staggered rhythms.  Violinist and cellist, elegant in green and purple gowns, respectively, worked together to create a seamless fabric.  This was spellbinding at the end where the instruments echoed and intertwined with each other.  The Variations -- on a folk-like, but original theme by Tchaikovsky -- were finely crafted miniatures.  Particularly notable were the charming, quicksilver Variation No. 3 (piano with pizzicato strings), the very Russian sounding No. 4 (was Rachmaninoff inspired by this?), the heroic No. 7 (big piano chords with flourishes by the strings), the plaintive (flebile) No. 9, and a flashy Polish Mazurka, No. 10. The Variazioni Finale, extended variations on the same theme, followed a triumphant, almost giddy, course, suddenly cut short by the return of the Elegy theme. The final Andante con moto was a triple-forte study in grief, capped by a soft ending (Lugubre) whose rhythms recalled the famous funeral march from Chopin’s B-flat Minor Sonata.   By ANTHONY TOMMASINI Published: August 5, 2009 Trio con Brio Copenhagen, an award-winning ensemble consisting of the Danish pianist Jens Elvekjaer and two Korean sisters, the violinist Soo-Jin Hong and the cellist Soo-Kyung Hong. These accomplished and sensitive musicians gave a beautifully subdued performance of Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor. Mr. Elvekjaer brough t exceptional grace and fluidity to the rippling runs in the piano.  Mostly Mozart Festival,  Avery Fischer Hall at Lincoln Center Berlingske.dk  By Søren Schauser Copenhagen, Friday 10. July 2009 ….. The Trio con Brio Copenhagen emerged a few years ago already the perfect players. But the three stars kept on working, bringing the three corners ever closer together, polishing their valuable crystal into something even greater: pure art. Their reading of Mendelssohn’s piano trios is certainly fantastic. Don’t be fooled by the fact that it was released by the best-kept secret Copenhagen record company of them all, because the soul of the romantic period warms more than just the cockles of our hearts. Moreover, Jens Elvekjær from Denmark on the piano, his Korean wife on the cello and her sister on the violin are superbly capable. They play differently from their colleagues from recording history: slightly less breezily than the former Beaux Arts Trio. Slightly more together than Istomin, Rose and Stern. Do listen to their new CD or catch one of the many concerts they’re giving these days. Such as tomorrow’s concert at the Tivoli Concert Hall ... You’ll relish Soo-Jin’s slender violin playing, nod approvingly at Soo-Kyung’s cello as it generates ever increasing profundity, and admire Jens’s all-embracing piano ... Open your eyes and take in this unforgettable dissonance of black, green and turquoise. Open your ears and take in this perfect unity. OSTSEE-ZEITUNG.DE 18/19 Juli 2009 Trio Shines in Heiligendamm By EKKEHARD OCHS Heiligendamm A magnificent evening it was indeed…….try and find anyone able to play a Haydn work (G major, "Gypsy Trio") in such a way as if it were completely new: with meticulous sensitivity for the many fine details and wonderful ideas, all too often flamboyantly overrun, for the incisive figurative articulation, lightness, elasticity and expressive variety. …. All musical sequences profit from an essential though unobtrusively differentiated manner of making music – practically bringing the tones to "speak". This approach rendered Mendelssohn's 2nd Piano Trio (c minor) a powerful experience of elfin lightness, was emphatic and passionate, full of melodic sweetness and ebullient vitality. All of this and more is already compositionally incorporated in Dvorak's renowned "Dumky" Trio: six movements based on the Ukrainian Dumka, lucid and to some extent brusquely contrasting. This work represents a particularly prickly proving grounds. But the Trio con brio had all the trumps in hand for making music with impressively sovereign command. A very potent performance! 20-7-2009 By Michael Baumgartl Ulrichshusen ...upon the conclusion of the Beethoven triple concerto for violin, cello, piano and orchestra with the Trio con Brio of Copenhagen. So dynamically differentiated, without any battling between the solo instruments for the upper hand. One seldom hears this concerto so elegantly and gracefully performed as with this trio of soloists. And the sisters Soo-Jin Hong and Soo-Kyung Hong along with the pianist Jens Elvekjaer play together with such incredible precision. This immaculate ensemble playing offered rarely illuminated depths and moments of exceptional high tension within the work. A storm of "Bravo" calls and a standing ovation celebrated the singularity of the performance.... Politiken | 09.07.2009 | Kultur | By HENRIK FRIIS …….. The highlight of the first concert at the Tivoli Concert Hall was the great power of the Trio con Brio in Mendelssohn’s C minor trio. The three players demonstrated two of the decisive qualities that make their chamber music making so extraordinary. Each of them has so much to give each tiny little romantic episode in Mendelssohn’s music, and hence each of them continually varied the music in terms of volume, tempi, colouring and temperament, turning it into a kaleidoscopic interpretive mosaic. This musical variety was also carried out with enormous collective determination. If there had been any differences in the rehearsal room as to the way they thought Mendelssohn should be played in the bicentenary of his birth, there was no disagreement in what the audience were allowed to hear or see. It was as if they had adopted old-fashioned democratic centralism as their musical constitution. They showed a united front to the audience. Thus their superb coordination in the devilish third movement was utterly convincing even when the score might seem to lose momentum a bit, and they made the long, slender, lines of the fourth movement elevate like a passionate hymn. All this at invariably effective tempi and with the same convincing precision the trio impressed everyone with on their Mendelssohn CD this spring………   Mendelssohns Piano Trios op. 49 & 66 Trio con Brio Copenhagen “ Many people consider the two Mendelssohn piano trios to be the best ever written. To celebrate the Mendelssohn bicentenary the Trio con Brio Copenhagen, one of the very best in the world, with Jens Elvekjær from Denmark at the piano, have made a superb new recording of the two works.” POLITIKEN PLUS (May 2009) ”. . . the Trio con Brio release comes from CDklassisk, a small Copenhagen independent, but is one of the greatest to emerge in bicentenary year. Tempos are consistently high but every detail is minutely observed in this beautifully fluid music. Mendelssohn’s music sounds as if it is playing itself, in simple phrases that follow one another, developing and commentating; it is this convincing naturalness that gives the release its great power ... Mendelssohn’s two piano trios pure and simple, with the music sticking loyally to classical models with four movements in accordance with the classical rules, themes you can hum to, and powerful finales. Yet the Trio elevate the music far beyond ordinary levels. The two slow (well, slower) movements are balmy but unsentimentally elegant, grand without being grandiose. The finales are acrobatic and fleet of foot, but nevertheless imbued with an admirable restraint that means the performance never tilt into showiness” POLITIKEN (May 2009) Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 29.04.2009 With the Doctor's participation Trio con Brio Copenhagen in the 'Alte Oper', Frankfurt There was the evidence. A facsimile insert leaf included in the program at the chamber music evening concert, of the Frankfurt Museum Society: on "December 29th, 1882, 7 o'clock in the evening". And the insert states this was in fact "with the participation of Dr. Johannes Brahms". On this occasion, his C major piano trio, op. 87 was performed "for the first time". Upon the conclusion of this season of a series so rich in tradition, the finale recital of this jubilee concert season - "200 Years of the Museum Society" - was this eminent work. It was now to be heard with the superb and youthful "Trio con Brio Copenhagen" in the Mozart Hall of the Alte Oper providing a very supple interpretation.  During the performance the Korean sisters Soo-Jin and Soo-Kyung Hong (violin and cello) strengths were especially evident in the more muted tones, such as in the opening movement or in the trio section of the scherzo, whose structure was shaped with apt dryness and precision. The Dane, Jens Elvekjaer, a superlative chamber music pianist, was well aligned with this altogether gentle approach with optimal balance. And he did not fail to convey the more pungent, characteristic Brahms sound.  There was a high point right at the start, not least thanks to his eminently light and fleet playing in Haydn's C major piano trio (Hob. XV:27): crystal clear, perfectly coordinated ensemble playing, extremely well differentiated. The slow middle movement was particularly thought stimulating in its profundity. The presto finale with its playful jocularity and directly pleasing thematic material, likely was the tune most people were likely to go home whistling, being so appealing and memorable.  The ensemble was entirely within the idiom of the composer. They had received a substantial boost to their career with their success at the Munich ARD Competition in 2002, playing Ravel's a minor piano trio. This ideally harmonizing Danish-Korean alliance unfurled a maximum of color interplay, finest nuance, delicate pastel shades, but also expressively forceful colors, in the finale practically kaleidoscope-like, bubbling up effervescently. In addition, the whole was convincingly presented as a single, connected narrative. There was the gently rocking, ever circuitous motion of the second movement, which with its title "Pantoum" seems more to allude to a mysterious and exotic element rather than a specific reference to a Malayan form of poetry; the bleak, reductive Passacaille, which in introverted mood offers an unusual switching back and forth between feelings of solitude and togetherness. The encore, following the Brahms, the final work, was the slow movement of Mozart's B-flat major piano trio (KV 502).  GUIDO HOLZE Mannheimer Morgen, 23. May 2009, Germany Schwetzinger Festspiele: Konzert mit dem Trio con brio Perfekte Balance                                            Von unserer Mitarbeiterin Waltraud Brunst  Trio con brio - der Name impliziert Leichtigkeit und Charme, passend zu dem zarten Schwesternpaar aus Korea im Meerjungfrauen-Look Soo-Jin Hong (Violine) und Soo-Kjung Hong (Violoncello), denen sich der junge Däne Jens Elvekjaer (Klavier) zugesellt. Als das Trio con brio Copenhagen am vierten Abend der "Haydn-Kontraste" zu spielen begann, hielten die Zuhörer im Kammermusiksaal den Atem an und verharrten für den Rest des Abends auf der Stuhlkante. Diese stupende Virtuosität, diese perfekte Klangbalance, dieses leuchtende Farbenspiel und vor allem dieses Feuer! Die Cellistin scheint Motor und Kraftwerk des Trios zu sein. Sie spielt das immens schwierige Programm nahezu auswendig, sucht oft den Blickkontakt zum Pianisten, singt ihrer Schwester die Cello-Kantilenen zu (bei Mendelssohn). Das Trio eröffnete den Abend mit Joseph Haydns Klaviertrio e-Moll Hob. XV/12: eine Interpretation von klassischem Ebenmaß, mit perfekt kongruenten Parallelstellen, völlig einig in Agogik und Artikulation. Dann das Klaviertrio c-Moll opus 66 von Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, dessen Vortragsbezeichnung "energico e fuoco" im Kopfsatz die Weichen für eine überaus temperamentvolle Wiedergabe stellt.  Zum Höhepunkt des Konzerts wurde Dmitri Schostakowitschs Klaviertrio e-Moll opus 67, ein Fanal abgrundtiefer Trauer, das Interpreten wie Hörer durch ein wahres Gefühls-chaos treibt bis zu den herzzerreißenden Zitaten ostjüdischer Folklore im Finalsatz. Nach Sekunden völliger Stille ein Bravo-Ruf aus vielen Kehlen, für den das Trio mit dem Poco Adagio aus Dvoráks f-Moll-Trio dankte. Denver, Colorado, April 2008, Rocky Mountains News Danish, Korean or Viennese, Trio's music is celestial By Marc Shulgold, Rocky Mountain News Wednesday, April 23, 2008 A group named Trio con Brio Copenhagen suggests a lively threesome from Denmark. That's partly true. Indeed this youthful ensemble, which wowed a capacity crowd at Gates Concert Hall on Wednesday, displays considerable spirit and energy - living up to the "con Brio" of their name. However, the trio was formed in Vienna and includes only one bona fide Dane, pianist Jens Elvekjaer. The remaining players are Korean sisters: violinist Soo-Jin Hong and cellist Soo-Kyung Hong. That said, no one leaving Gates was questioning the group's name. Instead, many were wondering where these brilliant players have been hiding. In a program consisting of three unquestionably glorious and supremely challenging masterpieces, the trio elevated the music to a point darn close to celestial. Centerpiece of the evening, and the work that created a stunned silence at its conclusion, was Shostakovich's E-minor Trio, one of the 20th century's greatest chamber pieces. Here, the musicality of the Copenhagen emerged in full bloom. Balances were impeccable and the brooding intensity, unbridled playfulness and dazzling virtuosity of this remarkable work were tossed off with a high level of commitment and unanimity of purpose rarely encountered in the chamber-music world. The E-minor Trio carried listeners through a variety of emotional twists and turns, making its final muted statement with an understated power so riveting, that, for a long stretch, no one in the audience dared break the mood with applause. Throughout the piece, the threesome threw themselves into the music, whispering those mysterious harmonics, exploding with wild-bow-swinging pizzicatos and never losing cohesiveness. During its exuberant movements, the performance was not always neat and pretty - exactly what Shostakovich had in mind. This was quite an experience. Not so shabby, either, were the surrounding selections. The evening opened with Beethoven's compelling Ghost Trio, dominated by its lengthy, spooky slow movement - delivered with terrific pacing and an unbroken sense of dramatic tension (although Elvekjaer's piano too often overwhelmed the strings). Brahms' sumptuous C-major Trio ended the program, given a suitably warm and expansive reading by the Copenhagen. Here, Elvekjaer's playing turned velvety as the piano part rumbled and murmured under the archly romantic sweep of the strings. Moving from the sublime to the sublime, the Copenhagen offered the lovely Andante from Mendelssohn's D-minor Trio in encore. Wigmore Hall, London, May 2008, MusicOMH.com Trio con Brio Copenhagen @ Wigmore Hall, London, 4 May 2008 Trio con Brio Copenhagen, formed by the Korean sisters Soo-Jin Hong and Soo-Kyung Hong and the Danish pianist Jens Elvekjaer, is clearly a well greased machine, arching and swaying in perfect harmony with each other and the music. Their Wigmore Hall recital was a night of dramatic and unearthly compositions spanning the years 1808 to 2007. With music and performers at this level, chamber music doesn't get much more absorbing. It's not often said of such a giant, but Beethoven's contribution was more than slightly put in the shade by the sheer daring and spark of the other three works. The programme started with the old master's Ghost Trio, which sets off in the wrong gear and, from the racing, jagged first few bars, the performers have to make a swift adjustment in order to find themselves on the right road, rocky as that is. The music swelled and receded in typically turbulent bursts, more tranquil sections drawing honest and emotive cello playing from Soo-Kyung Hong, with no frills or ostentation. As with any single movement of Beethoven there is never only one frame of mind contained in the music and there were little storms brewing which continued into the chirruping 3rd movement. What happened next robbed my memory of any more details than that. Shostakovich's Piano Trio no. 2 begins with an unbearably plaintive call from the cello, performed intensely and instantly creating a chilling atmosphere. The soaring 'harmonic' notes (i.e. the fingers only lightly touching the strings at certain points, producing a higher pitch than should seem possible) from the cello are taken up by the violin (this time without harmonics, making the violin sound oddly lower than the cello) and then on to the piano in a disconcerting mini-fugue. This kind of music could have continued in the same vein all night as far as I was concerned, but it eventually veered onto a chugging path that steadily grew until the volume suddenly plummeted as the music continued in a stunning near-silence. There is a good deal of head-nodding in the audience as Shostakovich introduces some snazzy, aggressive folk music with an occasional nagging premonition of his own eighth string quartet (written 16 years later). This was the real ghost of the evening. There were as many dynamic swoops here as in the Beethoven piece, Trio con Brio playing again with deadly focus and agility. The final movement started with booming, chunky chords on the piano, gradually being replaced by a sinister pizzicato section sounding like a tiptoeing villain. The whole thing concluded with the violin finally getting a chance to haunt us with its own searing harmonics. After the interval there was a new piece. It was sensational. Written by Bent Sorensen in 2007 and dedicated to Trio con Brio, Phantasmagoria started with what sounded like urgent and exotic bird-calls from the violin and cello bursting out in all directions. Using sliding glissando effects, tiny near-melodies appeared only to subtly vanish into thin air. Every sort of unusual technique is used by the strings, but it manages to avoid sounding like "a hundred and one ways to use a violin" manual, maybe because the aim is to explore individual sounds as sounds rather than to tease the audience with quirky novelties. There aren't really any musical lines going on little journeys here, more like music reflecting on itself in both senses of the phrase. It seemed likely, but thankfully Sorensen wasn't tempted to have the pianist reach inside the piano to create those all too familiar "ethereal" effects; there was too much good taste in evidence for that. This was a sensitively constructed collection of gorgeous little morsels. The work ended with a beautiful (though it probably only lasted four seconds) bit of singing by one of the two string players over the closing meanderings of the piano. Again, a wonderfully judged bit of delicacy. Ravel's Trio for Piano, Violin and Cello, the final piece, was ravishing from the very first chord. This is sublime music that lifts you like sunlight. Though the instruments share the same musical material, the same tunes, each player projects the music as if it were completely individual to themselves. Jens Elvekjaer's piano tone (here as elsewhere) was glimmering in the tender passages and powerful in the many dramatic twists of Ravel's mind. Unlike Shostakovich, Ravel is not hell-bent on convincing us he has an individual musical language; he doesn't need to because the ideas are pouring out of him so naturally and joyfully. There was no real interpretive slant on this or any other work in the programme. Trio con Brio are not visionaries, but they recognise that with music so abundantly rich you don't need to reinvent it to have it radiate with freshness. Nice little Mendelssohn encore, too. - Stephen Crowe Courier-Journal, Louisville, Kentucky (November 2007) Trio con Brio Copenhagen is explosively brilliant "……… the piece shimmered and hurled its way forward: bows attacking strings with delicacy and velocity; the piano anchoring the performance in absolute, dynamically sumptuous authority.……. The entire performance, genuinely, was a tremendous achievement, and listeners at this season-opening program of the Louisville Chamber Music Society must have known it." Politiken, Copenhagen, Denmark (August 2007) - Foto: Morten Langkilde  Magic fantasy of sound The Danish piano trio, Trio con Brio Copenhagen, made a sublime opening of this year’s Schubertiade with the premiere of Bent Sørensen’s ‘Phantasmagoria’. "………Bent Sørensen’s unique fantasy of sound and instrumentational skills conjure up a deeper beauty and expressiveness than ever before…..‘Phantasmagoria’ is one of Sørensen’s most beautiful and most well-balanced works so far, and the performance must have satisfied his dreams……. .....Trio con Brio Copenhagen created magic also in the program´s classical parts with Haydn, schubert and Webern…… This was superb, superb, superb. Each corner offered new delicious views, detailing was finest filigree, and the ensemble playing was like perfect dance partners’ affectionate gentle hold on each other." GRAMOPHONE MAGAZINE (July 2007)     "Trio con Brio Copenhagen won the Kalichstein Laredo Robinson International Trio Award in 2005, and with this debut recording, it´s easy to see what so impressed the judges. Sisters violinist Soo-Jin Hong and cellist Soo-Kyung Hong, and pianist Jens Elvekjaer perform with uncommon fluidity and polish, phrasing with unanimity and playing with sensitivity.     The group´s lucid elegance is well suited to Ravel´s Piano Trio. The opening Modere is especially well done, capturing the brooding ruminative expression, with wonderfully languorous violin playing by Soo-Jin Hong. The clarity and spotless articulation of the sisters´ string playing is striking even under pressure in the explosive concluding section. The trio´s airtight ensemble and natural pacing show a firm grasp of Ravel´s structure and style, with the ensuing Pantoum tossed off with the right lightly tripping vivacity. . . their spacious eloquent playing is faultless, with hushed, evocative keyboard work by Elvekjaer at the coda. The performance is rounded off with a sparkling and energized Anime, blending polish and fizzing energy in fine order . . . the Ravel and Bloch performances can compete with the best available. The Trio con Brio Copenhagen is clearly a superb, greatly gifted chamber group, and I look forward to future encounters." AMERICAN RECORD GUIDE (Summer 2007)     "One of the greatest performances of chamber music I´ve ever encountered . . . Let´s get the basics out of the way.  Balance, ensemble, intonation are all perfect.  They play with perfect unanimity, and each is a solid virtuoso. What stands out from this ensemble is the range of tone and sound . . . They command an amazing range of timbres.  Melodies sing with an aching sweetness, or seduce with wild eroticism, or haunt with impenetrable mystery.  Cellist Kyung has a hundred different sounds of pizzicato, and can fill the hall with the depth of her lowest register.  Pianist Elvekjaer fears nothing, yet never for a moment overwhelms his colleagues . . .  The performance of the [Ravel] third movement Passacaille is elemental, inexorable . . .  a mighty wind of sound that threatens to blow the listener away. Dvorak´s "Dumky" Trio now seems authentically and completely Czech, and they perform the work with the same masterly approach they brought to the Ravel.  They are revelatory.  They move comfortably and convincingly from melancholy to exuberant joy, and the listener cannot fail to be taken along." DES MOINES REGISTER     "Perfection is a rare thing. There are few moments in our lives when we experience anything close to it . . . Trio con Brio took the stage and for two hours, they swept away all barriers to perfection . . . Their eye contact constituted an electric dialogue, and they cued each other with subtle flourishes of brows and turns of the head . . . [Elvekjaer was] virtually dancing on both pedals . . . Bravos erupted after every trio, and at the end of the concert, the entire audience rose to its feet in a single wave . . ." VANCOUVER SUN      ". . . it was probably the best thing the Friends of Chamber Music could have done to open their new series with the likes of Trio con Brio Copenhagen . . . a wonderful young group who have won many top prizes . . . fresh and exciting . . . [Their Haydn] was genial and sporty with hurtling fingerwork . . . perfect unison . . . huge, almost orchestral washes of sound [in the Ravel] . . . hair-trigger response to rapid changes of velocity and dynamics and an ear for the sensuous refinements of colour . . . They caught every mood [in the Dumky Trio] that a Slav like Dvorak tried to capture: pensiveness, intimacy, mourning, abandon and vitality. Above all, it was spontaneous playing, which is the soul of this music." REVIEW VANCOUVER     "an electric performance of Ravel's gripping and inventive Piano Trio . . . an exploratory and risk-taking performance . . . wherein the dialogue between form and content was carried out with singularly intelligent playing." PALM BEACH POST     "The Copenhagen plays with a single mind. And each of the three is a virtuoso of the highest order . . . They have an amazing breadth of timbres . . . Ravel's second movement, Pantoum, dances gaily around a central melody, which Elvekjaer sang gloriously. The Dvorak´s second movement opened with Soo-Kyung Hong playing the same note, repeated in various rhythms. How can she draw so much meaning out of such simplicity? And how could Elvekjaer make Dvorak's notoriously unidiomatic piano writing seem so natural? And how was it possible for violinist Soo-Jin Hong to move from affecting sweetness to riotous dance, all in the same movement? The encore was the slow movement of the Mendelssohn Trio in D minor, a lovingly played kiss good night." Concert in Vancouver, Canada, 24. October, 2006   Trio con Brio Copenhagen Date 28 October 2006, 20.00 Venue Vancouver Playhouse Haydn Piano Trio in C major, Hob XV No. 27 Ravel Piano Trio in A minor Dvorák Piano Trio in C minor, Op. 90 (Dumky) Violin Soo-Jin Hong Cello Soo-Kyung Hong Piano Jens Elvekjaer Reviewer J H Stape The opening concert of the Friends of Chamber Music's 59th season firmly accented youthful exuberance, with Trio con Brio easily living up to its name and offering stylish playing of a repertoire well chosen to show off its talents. Established in 1999, the piano trio in its extensive touring has built up a solid, and well deserved, reputation on the international chamber music scene. The opening trio was standard issue Haydn: graceful and carefully balanced music of the pleasing rather than stirring kind. It received a polished and idiomatic performance, the trio's sound bright and vivid, with the piano to the forefront at the opening, and then a dialogue developing between the instruments. The sober, but not excessively serious Andante was finely turned, leading to strong contrast with the presto finale, full of energy and and sparkling with sparks and fire as it entered a headlong rush to the finish. Contrast established itself as the evening's keynote with an electric performance of Ravel's gripping and inventive Piano Trio in A minor -- incontestably the evening's musical highlight. Based on secure technique and interpretive depth, this was an exploratory and risk-taking performance, which saw the strings come into their own after the elegant restraint displayed in the Haydn trio. This intense, spellbinding music gave an opportunity to show off Trio con Brio's tonal beauty, and it was one grabbed with confidence, as committed playing and emotional power conjoined. The edgy, vivacious second movement, titled "Pantoum," and exploring a Malay verse form, got a dynamic and dramatic reading wherein the dialogue between form and content was carried out with singularly intelligent playing. Dense textures and colours dominated the dark-hued third movement, "Passacaille," while the closing movement, marked Animé, emphasized brilliance of effects and was an emotional roller-coaster, all the values thrilling brought out with taut playing. Dvorák's Piano Trio in e minor explores the Slavic form of the dumka, with an immense, sometimes nearly unbearable motif of melancholy followed by an equally unrestrained joyous exuberance (often the equivalent of a "Knees Up, Babushka Browna"). Composed of six movements, the formal exploration depends upon colouring so that the whole avoids a sense of monotony even though repetition is of the essence. Trio con Brio proved as adept at the tense and brooding first motifs, as in conveying the maniacal happiness of the second. The violent contrastive effects demand a highly disciplined and thoughtful approach, fully on display by this youthful ensemble. The concert, dedicated to the memory of Barbara Voltz, a longtime FCM supporter, closed with a gracious encore: the beautiful second movement of Mendelssohn's Piano Trio in D minor, as if the Trio were thirsting to show its mastery of the Romantic repertoire as well as the ones essayed in the main portion of the concert. © 2006 J H Stape Review Vancouver, Canada, 26 October, 2006 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Concert in Vancouver, Canada, 24. October 2006 ". . . It was probably the best thing the Friends of Chamber Music could have done to open their new series with the likes of Trio con Brio Copenhagen . . . a wonderful young group who have won many top prizes . . .Their playing for the Friends on Tuesday was fresh and exciting in a difficult program: Dvorak and Ravel, pieces full of volatile changes that call for group-thought on a massive scale. The Haydn trio that opened wasn´t a warm-up, either. It was genial and sporty with hurtling fingerwork for everybody but the cellist and played in perfect unison.   . . . huge, almost orchestral washes of sound in the Ravel Trio . . . There was hair-trigger response to rapid changes of velocity and dynamics and an ear for the sensuous refinements of colour that make the Ravel one of the masterpieces in the repertory.  . . . In the Dumky Trio they caught every mood that a Slav like Dvorak tried to capture: pensiveness, intimacy, mourning, abandon and vitality. Above all, it was spontaneous playing, which is the soul of this music." The Vancouver Sun, 26. October 2006 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Auf dem Weg zum Olymp                                                       Das junge "Trio con Brio" gastierte bei den "Musikfreunden" in Coburg  In der Reihe "Podium junger Künstler", einem Gemeinschaftsprojekt der Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde mit dem Kulturbüro der Stadt Coburg, erlebte man am Montag im Kongresshaus Rosengarten ein Ensemble, das - 1999 in Wien gegründet und 2002 erfolgreich beim Münchener ARD-Wettbewerb - noch viel von sich reden machen wird. Die Rede ist vom "Trio con Brio Copenhagen", das aus den koreanischen Schwestern Soo-Jin Hong (Violine) und Soo-Kyung Hong (Violoncello) sowie dem dänischen Pianisten Jens Elvekjaer besteht. Bei seinem umjubelten Coburg-Debüt begeisterte dieses Trio das Publikum mit seiner Ausdruckskraft und Musizierfreude in Werken von Mozart, Ravel und Schubert. Den Auftakt bildete das Klaviertrio B-Dur KV 502 von Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, in denen die hochmusikalischen Schwestern sensible Tongebung, saubere Intonation und geschmeidige Lagenwechsel auf den Streichinstrumenten boten, während der Pianist mit stets hoher Anschlagskultur blendende Technik in perlenden Läufen demonstrierte. Neben der wie selbstverständlichen technischen Überlegenheit überzeugte im blendenden Zusammenspiel die geschmackvolle Interpretation und das lebendige Musizieren jenseits aller Routine. Als wahre Klangzauberer erwiesen sich die drei Protagonisten des "Trio con Brio" in dem höchst anspruchsvollen Trio a-Moll von Maurice Ravel. Spannungsvoll, mit organischen Steigerungen und intensiver Gestaltung erklang der klanglich rauschhafte Kopfsatz, virtuos und zupackend das Scherzo, verhalten beginnend und sich zu enormer Tonfülle entfaltend die archaische Passacaille, schließlich zuerst elegant verspielt, dann sich zu leidenschaftlicher Dichte steigernd das temperamentvoll und dennoch stets kultiviert musizierte Finale. Besondere Bewunderung galt hier dem äußerst treffsicheren Spiel des Pianisten Jens Elvekjaer. Beseelte Wiedergabe In schönsten Kantilenen schwelgen konnten nach der Pause Soo-Jin und Soo-Kyung Hong und ihr vorzüglicher Pianist in dem Trio B-Dur op.99 von Franz Schubert, das eine beseelte, stets durchsichtige und ausdrucksvolle Wiedergabe erlebte. Sei es der spielerische Charakter der Ecksätze, der innige Gesang des Andante oder das spritzige Staccato-Scherzo - alles wurde abgerundet, organisch und zudem stets stilsicher wiedergegeben. Nach anhaltendem, lebhaften Beifall kam das begeisterte Publikum im Coburger Kongresshaus noch in den Genuss eines wahren Kabinettstückchens als Zugabe in Gestalt des Presto-Finales aus dem Klaviertrio Nr. 3 von Joseph Haydn, das allseits mit äußerst flinken Fingern dargeboten wurde. Man muss gewiss kein Hellseher sein, um das "Trio con Brio" zielstrebig auf einem steilen Weg zum musikalischen Olymp zu sehen.            Coburger Tageblatt, 15.3.2006  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   Concert in HR-Sendesaal, Frankfurt, 16. October 2005 ”………Selten hat man die Mitglieder eines Klaviertrios so expressiv musizieren sehen und hören, ohne daß deswegen die Grenze einer noch tragfähigen Kammermusik-Ästhetik überschritten worden wäre…………Man mag staunen, mit welch selbstverständlicher Klarheit der Diktion und verhaltener Virtuosität die Kopenhagener Künstler diese Klangwelt zum Ausdruck brachten……Zu einem Fest der Emotionen mit schwungvoll intonierten Klaviergirlanden und einem süffig klagenden, ungemein schön klingenden Celloton geriet erwartungsgemäß Antonín Dvoráks Trio e- Moll op. 90……” Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 19. October 2005 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Concert in HR-Sendesaal, Frankfurt, 16. October 2005 ”…….Die Musik Dvoráks und seines musikalischen Nachfahren und Landsmann Bohuslav Martinu zog die Zuhörer noch lange nach dem Konzert in ihren Bann. Bei einem Ensemble wie dem «Trio con Brio» mit Soo-Jin Hong (Violine), Soo-Kyung Hong (Cello) und Jens Elvekjaer (Klavier) war dies auch kein Wunder. Selten hat man das bekannte «Dumky-Trio» Dvoráks in solcher Dichte und Transparenz gehört……………” Frankfurter Neue Presse, 19. October 2005 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Concert in the Meistersingerhalle, Nürnberg, 17. October 2005 ”……… Selten erlebt man derart gleichberechtigte, gleichgesinnte Musiker: Aus drei Instrumenten wird eines — und dies weiß mit feinsten Klangregistern zu glänzen……Zwischen intimer Intensität und dem Schwung slawischer Spielfreude entwarfen die drei Musiker im wachen Austausch die charakteristische Eigenart der kunstvollen Volksgesänge, fein ziselliert zwischen Wehmut, Melancholie, Heiterkeit und musikantischer Freude. Virtuoses Passagenwerk war auf den Punkt musiziert, kulminierte im spannungsreichen Gemütswechsel, wies mit eleganter Sinnlichkeit auf Bartók voraus........Bei dieser ausgewogenen Art des Musizierens war es fast logisch, dass das phantastische „Trio con Brio“ sich in den beiden Zugaben zu zwei kultivierten Sätzen Joseph Haydns bekannte. Noblesse oblige.”  Nürnberger Nachrichten, 19. October 2005 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Concert in The Round Tower, Copenhagen, 9. October 2005 Brahms af bedste skuffe Trio con Brio beviste søndag, at de er på internationalt niveau, når det gælder tysk romantik. Af Thomas Michelsen Klassisk   Rundetårn, Bibliotekssalen: Trio con Brio med Lars Anders Tomter (bratsch). Søndag 9. oktober. »Man hører den sjældent«, klagede Schönberg angående Brahms' pragtfulde klaverkvartet i g-mol, »og når man gør, er den som regel dårligt spillet«. Nuvel, dårligt spillet, det kan man bestemt ikke sige, Brahms' kvartet blev søndag, da flere hundrede publikummer fyldte op i Bibliotekssalen over Trinitatis Kirke, hvortil der er adgang fra Rundetårn, og hvor Trio con Brio efteråret igennem er husensemble. Her, på det store, lyse biblioteksloft, har man med en simpel skærmvæg fået styr på rummets akustik, og der er nu al mulig grund til at frekventere de mange kammermusikkoncerter, stedet byder på. De to strygere og pianisten i Trio con Brio spiller på et niveau over, hvad vi er vant til med hensyn til kammermusik herhjemme, og med nordmanden Lars Anders Tomter som fjerdemand i et slag Brahms var de fuldstændig urørlige. Undskyld begejstringen, men det her var altså stort. Jens Elvekjær ved klaveret skulle være rygrad, og det var da helt forrygende, som han strammede og lettede på sagerne. Brahms af bedste skuffe, med tre strygere, der var helt inde og røre, og helt ude at lege med friske, men immervæk kontrollerede nuancer i den afsluttende sigøjnersats. Mendelssohns forholdsvis dramatiske klavertrio i d-mol fløj smukt og sikkert i formation, og var Lars Anders Tomter nok så meget norsk spillemand i Schumanns 'Märchenbilder' for bratsch og klaver - for 'pænt' sådan i klassisk forstand var hans spil ikke, dertil er han for udtrykssøgende - så fik vi ikke desto mindre eventyr for alle pengene. Jeg tøver ikke med at slippe det sidste hjerte fri. Sådan vil jeg høre kammermusik. Bare synd, det sker så sjældent. Politiken, Copenhagen, 12. October 2005 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Concert in the ”Wiener Saal” in Mozarteum, Salzburg, 5. April 2005 "A cello-cantilene, quiet and lovely, then a violin melody, again finely articulated and soft, finally the piano: dolce and pulsating in the bass register, sparkling and glittering in the treble. Slowly the mood changes and gets dramatic, explosive and excited, the intensity of the sound and dynamic increases…From the first tone of the “Trio for Piano, Violin and Violoncello” by Maurice Ravel the Trio con Brio Copenhagen attracted the public in Wiener Saal into their magic field.….." Drehpunkt Kultur, Salzburg, 6. April 2005 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Concert in Teatro Verdi, Trieste, Italy, 2. May 2005 "……Trio con Brio Copenhagen opened the concert with trio in G-major Hob. XV:25 by Franz Joseph Haydn. Fifteen minutes of brilliant performance, a clear and strong sound, where Elvekjaer flew over keyboard, so that bravo-shouts followed with complete naturalness before the last tone even was ”dry” yet……A big applause crowned a concert of an absolutely special kind."  Messagero Veneto, Italy, 9. May 2005   ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Concert in Beethovenhaus, Bonn, Germany, 12. April 2005 "……After the intermission the ensemble from Copenhagen bathed in the sounds of Johannes Brahms´ wonderful B-flat major Piano Trio. The songs from the full chest, all the youthful storms and agitation were so fulfilled presented as one could only wish both of each single players as well as in the sound of the whole ensemble………… " General-Anzeiger Bonn, 14. April 2005 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Concert in Olavsfestdagene, Trondheim, Norway, 30. July 2005 "The concert with Trio con Brio Copenhagen in Frimurerlogen was simply great…. Trio con Brio Copenhagen played so that one almost forgot to breathe…..." Adresseavisen, Trondheim, Norway, 1. August 2005 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Concert in Dortmund, Harenberg City Center, ”The Next Generation Festival”, 12. December 2004 "Compositions illuminated ”with fire”……Even the smallest nuances, like in Ravel’s piano trio, are shaped into changing colours of sound, which emerge out of the substance, create shadow plays and condenses itself from clouds of finest ramifacations cumuluslike to explosive power, and not last, in order to be dissolved again. The musical idea is always strongly radiating from the different levels of density…….. " Ruhr Nachrichten, 13. December 2004 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Concert at the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival, Germany, 5-7 August 2005 "Delightful virtuoso sophistications at the castle Ulrichshusen….. Trio con Brio Copenhagen´s playing was characterized by fantastic precision and enormous intensity. The dynamic balance between the instruments created a finely structured sound in which polyphone flashes were integrated…… " Nordkurier, Germany 9.8.2005 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Concert in Teatro Verdi, Trieste, Italy, 2. May 2005 "Piano and strings - magic dialogue…….It only took few minutes to understand, that the standard of this ensemble is on a high level: pureness, precision, performance, ensemble playing, perfect stylistic comprehension. The result reflects a kind of first class international interpretation style, fitting to today’s demands of the big concert halls and recording companies………A great success. " Il Piccolo di Trieste, Italy, 4. May 2005 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Concert in Dortmund, Harenberg City Center, ”The Next Generation Festival”, 12. December 2004 "……Time flies away, the public is enthusiastic. Freshly and energetically the Korean-Danish constellation interprets another movement of Joseph Haydn’s C-major trio. The strength of three musicians is their intensive communication. It’s to hope, to hear this trio also after the series ”The Next Generation II” again in Dortmund." Westfälischer Rundschau, 13. December 2004