Playing Island: "LINEAGES I"

Performers:

• William Hagen, violin
  
• Andrei Ioniță, cello
  
• Sindy Mohamed, viola
  
• Catalin Serban, piano
  

Works performed:

• Jean Françaix: String Trio in C major
  
• George Enescu: Piano Trio in A minor
  
• Johannes Brahms: Piano Quartet No. 2 in A major, Op. 26
  

Lineages explores musical connections and traditions across time and geographical boundaries. This season focuses on the piano quartets of Johannes Brahms, which will be presented in three concerts throughout the year and placed in dialogue with other works.

The program opens with Brahms’s Piano Quartet No. 2 in A major, Op. 26 – a work of transcendental beauty and monumental serenity, whose architectural breadth and inner balance rank among the great achievements of chamber music.

It is framed by two very different perspectives: George Enescu’s Piano Trio in A minor, in which Brahms’s formal thinking blends with French sound culture and Romanian folklore, and Jean Françaix’s String Trio in C major, which, with its transparency, lightness, and playful elegance, deliberately contrasts with the Romantic tradition.

The ensemble welcomes as a special guest the American violinist William Hagen, who will perform this evening together with Andrei Ioniță, Sindy Mohamed, and Catalin Serban.