Christ Church Cathedral
Beethoven & Schubert Trios
Artists: Alan Choo, violin; Jaap ter Linden, cello; David Breitman, piano
Pre-Concert Chat: 7pm hosted by Christina Hutton with Choo, ter Linden, and Breitman.
Run Time: 100 Minutes, with Interval
This programme is created around a specific piano, the 1819 Graf, and presents two icons of the repertoire (Beethoven’s Ghost and Schubert’s op. 100) alongside a little-known gem: the single movement Beethoven wrote for pianist Maximiliane Brentano. Beethoven bares his soul in the middle movement of Ghost, a meditation on tragedy, despair and hope, while the outer movements sizzle with energy and humour. Schubert’s E-flat trio is from his last year of life; it’s hard not to imagine the composer in ill health, desperately trying to express everything he could. Listeners familiar with piano trios played on modern instruments will be surprised: this ensemble sounds more like a string quartet, with each of the pianist’s hands acting as an instrument of its own.
Generously sponsored by The Graham & Gayle Cooke Foundation.
PROGRAMME
Beethoven
Trio in B-flat, WoO39 (1812)
Allegretto
Trio in D-major, Opus 70 no 1, Ghost. (1808)
Allegro vivace e con brio
Largo assai ed espressivo
Presto
Intermission
Schubert
Trio in E-flat, D 929
Allegro
Andante con moto
Scherzo-Allegro moderato
Allegro moderato
Alan Choo, Violin
Singaporean violinist Alan Choo has established himself on the global stage as a leading soloist, chamber musician and historical specialist. He is Concertmaster and Assistant Artistic Director of Apollo’s Fire, the Grammy Award-winning baroque orchestra in the United States, and made his solo debut with them at the Tanglewood and Ravinia Music Festivals in 2017. He is also Founder and Artistic Director of Red Dot Baroque, Singapore’s first professional period ensemble and Ensemble-in-Residence at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music. His solo album of the complete Mystery Sonatas by Heinrich Biber with Apollo’s Fire was released on AVIE Records in March 2024 and debuted at #2 on the Billboard Classical chart, earning a double 5-star review from BBC Music Magazine, and receiving rave reviews from multiple publications such as The Strad (UK) and Classica Magazine (France).
Jaap ter Linden, Cello
Jaap ter Linden, viola da gamba and baroque cello, is a Dutch pioneer in the world of Early Music. Currently based in the United States, he is on the faculty of the Cleveland Institute of Music and Case Western Reserve University, where he directs ensembles and the baroque Orchestra. His extensive discography includes 2 recordings of the JS Bach suites for cello solo, the complete Mozart symphonies with the Mozart Akademie which he founded and conducted, as well as countless recordings with Musica Antiqua Cologne, the English Concert and the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra. During his performance career he has collaborated with such well known musicians as Andrew Manze, Ton Koopman, Richard Egarr,, Reinhard Goebel and Gustav Leonhardt to name a few. As a solo and chamber music player and conductor, Ter Linden has toured throughout Europe, the United States, Australia, China and Japan.
David Breitman, Piano
David Breitman is Associate Professor of Historical Performance at Oberlin Conservatory where he teaches fortepiano and clavichord as well as courses in performance practice. He has recorded all of Beethoven’s violin sonatas with Elizabeth Wallfisch, the cello sonatas with Jaap ter Linden, the Mozart violin sonatas with Jean-François Rivest, as well as 4 CD of vocal music with the late Sanford Sylvan, whom he partnered in recital for over 30 years. In a collaboration of a different sort, he is one of seven fortepianists on the 10-CD recording of the complete Beethoven piano sonata cycle on CLAVES. With his book, Piano-Playing Revisited: What Modern Players Can Learn from Period Instruments which appeared to critical acclaim in 2021, Breitman summarizes a lifetime of experience as a performer and teacher.
