Rejcha: Piano Trios

Trio in E flat major, Op. 101, No. 1; Trio in D minor, Op. 101, No. 2; Trio in C major, Op. 101, No. 3

Guarneri Trio Prague: Čeněk Pavlík - violin ("Zimbalist" from Guarneri del Ges?, 1735), Marek Jerie - cello (Andrea Guarneri, 1684), Ivan Klánský - piano

Rejcha's life story would provide ample material for a blockbuster film: at the age of eleven he ran away from home to gain a musical education. He was a masterful flautist, violinist and pianist. By the age of fifteen he had become the flautist in the orchestra of Max Franz, Elector of Cologne - next to the young violist Beethoven. Rejcha was also a close friend of Joseph Haydn. As a professor at the Conservatoire de Paris, he had the opportunity to influence the further direction his pupils (Berlioz, Liszt, Gounod, Franck, etc.) would take. Rejcha's sixlarge concertante trios, three of which are contained on this CD, were first published in Paris in 1824. In addition to the composer's inexhaustible invention, his works also owe their great success to the virtuoso demands placed on all three instruments. This was a great challenge for the Guarneri Trio, who after a quarter of a century rank among the world's finest owing to their interplay, virtuosity and sonic qualities. Listen to how the priceless Guarneri instruments sound in the hands of these superlative musicians.


Guarneri Trio's virtuosity in homage to the music of the well-travelled Antonín Rejcha.