Trio Parnassus

In their Madrid-Paris programme, the Trio Parnassus evokes the affinity between Spanish and French music from around 1900. The opening and closing pieces are two piano trios seldom heard in the concert hall. Though the Second Trio by Joaquín Turina (1882-1949) may sound 'Spanish', he was nevertheless trained in Paris as well as in Seville and Madrid by Vincent d'Indy. At times, the impressionistic harmony even reminds one more of Ravel than of Seville. The opposite is true of the music by Edouard Lalo (1823-1892), whose family had distant roots in Spain, dating from the Spanish occupation of Northern France in the sixteenth century. His Third Piano Trio, written in 1881 in Paris, is a highly original and wrongfully underappreciated work, very different from the chamber music written by his peers at the Paris conservatory. Between these lesser-known gems, you will hear typically 'Spanish' works by Pablo de Sarasate (1844-1908) and Isaac Albéniz (1860-1909). The violinist Sarasate studied in Paris and Madrid and wrote numerous character pieces for violin and piano. Albéniz's 'Suite Española' is a piano work that has become famous mainly due to the guitar version of the prelude 'Asturias', which is the favourite of many a guitarist.