KEIKO TOKUNAGA, violin

SEAN KATSUYAMA, cello

From the Pianist:

Dear Friends!

On Saturday, June 3rd, at 5 p.m., join me alongside two fabulous musicians – violinist, Keiko Tokunaga, and cellist, Sean Katsuyama – for a celebration of Brahms & Dvorak: A Musical Friendship – Part II. In this special sequel to Part I from December 2016, we will be pairing their two magnificent piano trios: Dvorak’s heartwrenching Trio in F minor for piano, violin, and cello, op. 65 (1883) and Brahms’s sublime Trio in C Major for piano, violin, and cello, op. 87 (1882). The turbulent soundworld of Dvorak’s Trio in F minor, op. 65, which took up “all my time, so that I can hardly think or feel anything else” (Dvorak), undoubtedly reflected the grief he suffered over the death of his mother in December 1882 along with the emotional distress brought about by the ambivalence over his future career path – whether to pursue his fame and fortune in Vienna as urged by his lifelong friend and mentor, Johannes Brahms, or to stay true to his native Czech heritage by remaining in Prague. This nearly 40-minute work of searing emotional intensity, “must rank among the greatest of his chamber music compositions,” writes Hans-Hubert Schonzeler, “there is hardly another work in Dvorak’s output so sorrowful, somber, and poignant.” For Dvorak himself, this Trio – the penultimate one before his final and much-beloved “Dumky” Trio No. 4 in E minor, op. 90 (1891) – signified a great artistic milestone in the realm of instrumental music in which Brahms had always remained his role model. Brahms’s brilliant Piano Trio No. 2 in C Major, op. 87 (1882), written nearly 30 years after his youthful and unabashedly romantic Piano Trio No. 1 in B Major, op. 8 (1854), is a mature masterwork of a 49-year-old composer that followed his piano quartets, the piano quintet, the string sextets, and all three string quartets, and that took Brahms, a notorious perfectionist, over two years to complete. Cast in four hefty movements, it demonstrates a leaner, more concise style in which the thematic material is worked out with greater economy, along with rich symphonic sonorities, contrapuntal and rhythmic complexity, exotic harmonies, a delightful set of Gypsy-flavored variations (Brahms being THE master of the variation form), an effervescent, Mendelssohn-inspired Scherzo, and a boisterous finale full of Viennese charm, wry wit, and playful humor. Upon its completion, Brahms was quite pleased with his masterpiece, writing to his publisher, Simrock: “You have not yet had such a beautiful trio from me and very likely have not published its equal in the last ten years,” and Clara Schumann, Brahms’s beloved friend and muse, couldn’t agree more when she proclaimed this Trio to be “a splendid work” and “a great musical treat.”

Keiko, Sean, and I look forward to seeing you at this poignant tribute to Brahms & Dvorak: A Musical Friendship II on Saturday, June 3rd!

Best wishes,

Dr. Yelena Grinberg, founder and artistic director of the Grinberg Classical Salon Series