TRIO REVOLUTION
Trio Revolution, a Viennese-based flute, cello, and piano trio.
Photo: Andrej Grilc
Ketevan
Sepashvili
piano
Temo
Kharshiladze
flute
Sandro
Sidamonidze
cello
“[Ketevan Sepashvili] has the virtuosity needed not only to master enormous technical challenges but to also show all musical nuances.“
Süddeutsche Zeitung
UNCONVENTIONAL
JOURNEY
Liebermann
Haydn
Kapustin
Three times three in this case doesn’t make nine, but instead, makes for a fascinating CD. Trio Revolution has recorded works by Lowell Liebermann, Joseph Haydn, and Nikolai Kapustin, three composers who could not be more different from one another. What the three musicians have created here offers many surprises concerning the hitherto woefully neglected trios by Haydn as well as Kapustin as a jazzy and Liebermann as a modern classic.
What happens when three very different musical personalities with diverse backgrounds – but the shared homeland of Georgia – get together and decide to form a trio? This can lead to an unconventional journey, like in the case of Ketevan Sepashvili, Temo Kharshiladze, and Sandro Sidamonidze. They met in Vienna in 2019 and realized that it was time to start on a musical path together. There was just one problem: the combination of flute, cello, and piano is not a common one in classical music. A typical solution to this problem is the adaptation of works which were originally written for a different instrumentation. But for this CD, Trio Revolution decided to look for original compositions. And they found them in the oeuvres of Lowell Liebermann, Joseph Haydn, and Nikolai Kapustin.
Liebermann’s wide-ranging repertoire includes around one hundred compositions. This CD presents his second Trio for Flute, Cello and Piano op. 87 from the year 2004. The recording shows a technically and interpretatively challenging masterpiece. As a contemporary, atonally composing composer, Liebermann combines historical influences seamlessly into a distinctive style. Joseph Haydn’s Flute Trio in D Major (Hob. XV:16) is an exquisite example for glamorous salon music. With allegro, allegretto and vivace, it follows a classical structure and is part of a collection of flute trios which Haydn composed around 1784 during his time at the court of Prince Esterházy. Ukrainian composer Nikolai Kapustin was a musical solitary throughout his life. Already during his studies in Moscow, he felt drawn to the sounds of jazz, which he listened to in secret over American short wave radio. Kapustin integrated many of the stylistic elements of jazz in his own, always thoroughly composed music, and thereby created a unique style. Jazzy chord progressions and syncopated rhythms alternate, making interactivity the magic word, allowing the classical chamber music trio to turn into a ‘jazz trio‘ in the best meaning of the word.
Consisting of Temo Kharshiladze (flute), Sandro Sidamonidze (cello), and Ketevan Sepashvili (piano), Trio Revolution is rooted in Georgia but enthralls audiences around the world. Their noteworthy journey began with a celebrated debut concert at the renown Vienna Musikverein in Austria. Since 2019, the trio has found its artistic homeland at the European Centre for Classical Music in Vienna, where they rehearse and take part in chamber music concerts and projects all throughout Austria and Europe. At the heart of Trio Revolution is their never-ending commitment to transcending boundaries and finding innovative interpretations. Their unique syntheses of musical virtuosity and deeply embedded unison provides a rich basis for emotions. In addition to their enthralling performances, Trio Revolution emanates the highest professionality and an endless desire for excellence, thus cementing their reputation in the classical music scene. Trio Revolution performs on famous stages around the world and enchants their audiences with boundary-breaking shows. They embody a bridge between tradition and innovation and create an atmosphere in which musical conventions are interpreted in new ways and horizons of expression are expanded.