ADASKIN STRING TRIO

• Mozart: Kegelstatt Trio - II. Menuetto

“Brilliantly performed Mozart chamber music - highly recommended... One cannot fault the playing on this lovely disc... This excellent MSR Classics disc is a welcome addition to recordings of Mozart chamber music.”

Geoff Pearce, Music & Vision [August 2017]

"As played by Ensemble Schumann...the Kegelstatt’s charms receive articulate and expressive treatment. Balances between instruments are superbly gauged and the players shape the music’s juxtaposition of tenderness and jubilance with unforced intensity.... Gallant’s ripe timbre is particularly welcome in the glorious buoyancy and poetry of the Oboe Quartet... Whether singing like an early incarnation of the Countess or bouncing nimbly about, Gallant is a master of the work’s inspired content in close alliance with Larson and cellist Mark Fraser... Pinkas is the scintillating force in the Piano Quartet in E flat, K493, in which she draws a spectrum of nuances from the keyboard. Larson, Fraser and their Adaskin colleague, violinist Emlyn Ngai, team with the pianist in a performance that is by turns crisp, heartfelt and robust."

Donald Rosenberg, Gramophone [July 2017]

“The performance [of the “Kegelstatt”] is a pleasant one that flows lyrically, and the use of oboe rather than clarinet (or violin!) gives the work a different flavor that seems not “wrong” but simply an enjoyable alternative... Thomas Gallant handles [the Oboe Quartet] with plenty of skill and flexibility – the same characteristics he brings to the oboe version of the “Kegelstatt” trio. [The Piano Quartet] is played with warmth and insight..”

Mark J. Estren, InfoDad [May 2017]

“Going from a favorite recording of the Mozart “Kegelstatt” Trio...to this new recording, I immediately noticed the special exuberance of these musicians... Of course the surprise is that the clarinet part in that trio is played here on oboe. The group reasons that since Mozart adapted the piece for violin all is permitted... the buoyant results are their own justification. Thomas Gallant seems to radiate good cheer. The tempos seem perhaps a bit brighter than in most recordings of the Oboe Quartet, for instance, but it is really the accenting and crispness of the strings that make the difference. Gallant is out-going, with large gestures, and affecting in the Adagio. He is nuanced in this touching movement, and exuberant in the finale. The recorded sound is close and warm. This is a charming recording... there is room for this delightful disc, which many Mozartians will want to hear.”

Michael Ullman, Fanfare [July/August 2017]

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was inspired to compose the music in this program by his love of exploring novel musical formats, by the virtuosity and artistry of the musicians he encountered in his travels, and by close friendships. The collaboration of the Adaskin String Trio and Ensemble Schumann reflects all of these things. We hope that you enjoy this music as much as we have enjoyed rehearsing, exploring, traveling, teaching, performing and celebrating life together. [Steve Larson, December 2016]

Since 1994, the ADASKIN STRING TRIO has won over audiences with exuberant playing and intelligent programs, blending classical masterpieces with unexpected treasures. The Trio, consisting of violinist Emlyn Ngai, violist Steve Larson and cellist Mark Fraser, has toured throughout the United States and Canada, performing at prestigious venues, including The Frick Collection in New York, the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. And the Flagler Museum in Palm Beach. They have also appeared in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Montreal and Toronto. The Adaskin String Trio has developed an impressive string trio repertoire, ranging from works by Haydn and Schubert to Dohnányi, Villa-Lobos and Schnittke, as well as works by composers of today, including Chick Corea, Paul Simon and Michael White. A particular pleasure for the Trio is introducing audiences to rarely heard gems by neglected composers, including Taneyev, Martinu, Rózsa, Lennox Berkeley and Gideon Klein. Special collaborations are an important part of many of the Trio’s concerts, from quartets with oboe or piano by Mozart, Elgar and Brahms to quintets with clarinet or accordion by Golijov and Piazzolla. Currently based in New England, the members of the Adaskin String Trio are all originally from Canada, having met in Montreal where they each studied chamber music with a founding member of the Orford String Quartet, cellist Marcel Saint-Cyr. The Trio later completed two years as ensemble-in-residence at The Hartt School in Connecticut under the guidance of members of the Emerson String Quartet. The Trio is named in honor of Murray Adaskin, one of Canada’s most beloved and respected composers, and two of his brothers, violinist Harry Adaskin and producer and music educator John Adaskin.
[ www.AdaskinStringTrio.com ]


The members of ENSEMBLE SCHUMANN have been performing together since 2005, garnering a growing following and high praise for their acclaimed performances, characterized by radiant tone and musical precision. Ensemble Schumann, consisting of oboist Thomas Gallant, violist Steve Larson and pianist Sally Pinkas, presents works by a wide range of composers, including Johannes Brahms, Max Bruch, Heinrich von Herzogenberg, Francis Poulenc, Camille Saint-Saëns, Dmitri Shostakovich and many others. Following the time-honored tradition of instrumental transcription, the ensemble has been steadily expanding its repertoire to include new treatments of great works, such as Robert Schumann’s Märchenerzählungen, Max Bruch’s Eight Pieces, Op.83, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “Kegelstatt” Trio. They have been featured on many series across the United States, including the prestigious Da Camera Series in Los Angeles, at the Clark Art Museum in Massachusetts and on Live From Fraser on WGBH radio in Boston. Gallant, Larson and Pinkas, each a seasoned soloist in their own right, have performed at notable venues including Lincoln Center, the Frick Collection and Carnegie Hall in New York City, Jordan Hall in Boston, the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. and Wigmore Hall in London.
[ www.EnsembleSchumann.com ]
  WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (1756-1791)
PIANO QUARTET IN E-FLAT MAJOR, K.493
I. Allegro
II. Larghetto
III. Allegretto
ADASKIN STRING TRIO and SALLY PINKAS piano

OBOE QUARTET IN F MAJOR, K.370/368b
I. Allegro
II. Adagio
III. Rondeaux: Allegretto
ADASKIN STRING TRIO and THOMAS GALLANT oboe

TRIO FOR OBOE, VIOLA AND PIANO IN E-FLAT MAJOR, K.498 “KEGELSTATT”
[FIRST RECORDING WITH OBOE]
I. Andante
II. Menuetto
III. Allegretto
ENSEMBLE SCHUMANN



MSR Classics