Trio Dali’s Australian tour begins
Trio Dali‘s tour is about to begin! Having spent the weekend rehearsing and acclimatising in Melbourne, including working with Gordon Kerry on his Piano Trio no 2 Im Winde, Trio Dali is now in Hobart preparing for the first concert of their Australian Tour. We hope the Trio packed warm clothing, with the current weather forecast predicting a maximum of 15 degrees in Hobart today. At least it should be warmer in Coffs Harbour where the Trio performs on Thursday night.
Trio Dali’s Hobart and Coffs Harbour concerts are part of Musica Viva’s CountryWide program, bringing the best classical, jazz, world music, early music, vocal, and percussion ensembles to regional Australia thanks to support from the Australia Council, Communities NSW and Arts Victoria.
Trio Dali will do more than just perform concerts during this tour. Listen to ABC Classic FM and SBS French and Latvian programs to hear interviews with the performers over the coming days. The musicians will also give several masterclasses, including at the Theme and Variations Showroom in Willoughby on Friday 18 May at 6.30pm; Sydney Conservatorium of Music on Monday 21 May at 10am; and the Australian National Academy of Music on Wednesday 23 May at 10am. And as usual, there will be CD signings and Meet the Artists Question and Answer sessions after selected concerts.
Trio Dali in the West Australian
Young guns’ taste mixes east and west
William Yeoman, The West Australian
May 9, 2012
The youthful members of Trio Dali – French pianist Amandine Savary, Latvian violinist Vineta Sareika and French cellist Christian-Pierre la Marca – met in Spain, named themselves after a Chinese marble which when carved exhibits both strength and beauty, based themselves in France and are now coming to Australia for the first time.
The program for this, their inaugural Musica Viva tour, is similarly multinational, featuring the music of French composer Maurice Ravel (the Piano Trio in A minor), German composer Franz Schubert (the Piano Trio no. 2 in E-flat) and Australian composer Gordon Kerry’s second piano trio, Im Winde.
Kerry is this year’s Musica Viva featured composer and it’s his work which links those of the other two composers on the program. How?
Firstly, the title refers to one of Schubert’s songs, Der Schiffer (The Boatman), the first line of which reads “Im Winde, im Sturme befahr’ ich den Fluss” (“In wind, in storm, I traverse the river”). Secondly, Kerry is a self-confessed Francophile and his music is saturated with Ravel’s colours and textures.
Vineta Sareika says that while the Schubert and Ravel are old friends, the Kerry is a new discovery for Trio Dali.
“The Schubert and Ravel works are absolutely great repertoire for a piano trio,” the multi-award-winning soloist, concertmaster and chamber musician says on the line from Latvia. “Even though we have played them 100 times, we keep discovering different colours and nuances; ideas keep coming; it’s a kind of endless music which is to do with the genius of these two composers.
“Gordon’s piece is the first Australian music we’ve ever played. It’s very programmatic, full of pictures, and I would say is more like Ravel in atmosphere than Schubert.”
Sareika, who began learning violin from the age of five after her singing teacher told her mother she “had a musical ear and should do something more serious than just Latvian traditional songs”, says playing in a trio is thoroughly diplomatic. “We might have three different views in rehearsal but we put them all together for performance. And we try never to fight.”
For Sareika, the process of playing chamber music provides the template for every other musical situation.
“When I started to play in the orchestra as concertmaster I discovered I was taking ideas from the working process of the trio. You listen hard to each other, no matter how many players there are.”
And when she’s standing in front of an orchestra as soloist?
“It’s no different – I listen to everybody and just try to play my best and interpret what the composer might have meant.”
Interview with Trio Dali – part 3
Interpretation, says Sareika, demands an element of individual freedom, and they try to bring to well-known historical works the same kind of imaginative freedom that new music gives them.
It was this idea which gave rise to their name. Trio Dali has nothing to do with the artist Salvador. Rather, they are named after a Chinese city famous for its marble, from which beautiful artefacts are traditionally made. They liked the idea of the score as raw material, with the musicians as masons whose job was to make something precious, transforming stone into art.
At the moment, the young musicians are buzzing with excitement about a different kind of transformation in their collective life.
“We will all be living in the same city,” announces Sareika.
“From now, actually,” begins La Marca,
“After five years,” continues Savary,
“In two days, officially,” interjects Sareika,
” – we will all be living in Paris. Finally,” says La Marca.
So Waterloo will become a part of the trio’s biography, and their focus will shift to what they say are similarly idyllic rehearsal facilities in the French capital.
And balancing solo with trio commitments?
“All three of us think that trio is part of a solo achievement, in a way,” says La Marca.
“Actually, there is not really trio or solo,” says Sareika.
“There is just music,” concludes La Marca.
© Shirley Apthorp 2011
Interview with Trio Dali – part 2
A glimpse at Trio Dali‘s biography is enough to dispel the impression all three of them so happily create, that playing together is effortless. Though so new on the scene, Trio Dali has already netted major prizes in competitions in Osaka, New York and Frankfurt, pursues a busy international touring schedule and lists a string of top-level collaborators.
Their Australian tour programme includes Ravel’s piano trio, the work with which the trio made their recording debut and which has become something of a calling-card.
“It has been following us since the beginning,” says Savary. “We never get bored with this music.”
“We feel connected to the French approach, somehow,” adds La Marca. “We were really attracted by all the colours, and Ravel was the perfect piece for that.”
Is there such a thing as a French school of string-playing? La Marca studied with a Swedish teacher in Cologne; Sareika comes from the sleepy seaside resort of Jurmala, a satellite of the Latvian capital, Riga.
La Marca talks about Sareika’s playing with enthusiasm.
“Her quality of sound, especially in the high register, is very delicate,” he says. “What I love about both her and Amandine is the great sensitivity that they produce when they are making music. When they perform, they play with their hearts, and it’s a sincere way of playing.”
Savary immediately returns the compliment.
“Christian-Pierre is a great musician also, full of sensitivity and musicality. When we rehearse together, we don’t need words. It’s not about playing notes or playing for the right reason. It’s just what the line is telling and what they want to say to people. And that’s music, for me.”
Sareika speaks about Savary’s playing.
“She’s so delicate, and never covers the strings. She always thinks about colours. And when she plays pianissimo, it’s just magical – it’s something completely special.”
The Trio agree that all these qualities are as applicable to Schubert or Gordon Kerry as they are to Ravel. They have all had some contact with period instruments, and they have spent time with composers, working on new music.
Musica Viva’s suggestion that they should play Gordon Kerry’s “Im Winde” fell on fertile ground.
“It’s very atmospheric music, and I had the impression that it’s music which speaks to people from the first minute,” says Sareika. “He uses interesting effects, some wonderful colours in the string writing. It’s a discovery.”
“Also working with a living composer is completely different,” La Marca says. “Sometimes you want to ask Brahms or Beethoven, ‘Please can you tell us what we should do here?’”
© Shirley Apthorp 2011
Interview with Trio Dali – part 1
Waterloo is a tiny train platform a short, rattly ride from Brussels. There is no trace of either Napoleon or the Duke of Wellington, and no two-cornered hats in sight. Instead, there is a blast of exuberant energy from the three young musicians awaiting me in the miniscule station car-park.
Violinist Vineta Sareika, pianist Amadine Savary, and cellist Christian-Pierre La Marca exude so much good humour and cheer that the short drive to the Queen Elisabeth College of Music seems like a party.
Trio Dali has a concert a few days hence in Liege, and the college where the trio’s collective life began offers a peaceful setting where the musicians can rehearse together.
The three musicians, all embarking on successful solo careers, met at a Spanish chamber music festival in Santander five years ago and became firm friends. It was only when the same festival brought all three back the following year that they decided to play together.
“We found we still had the same kind of friendship, so we decided to make some music together,” recalls Sareika.
“We agreed on everything,” explains La Marca. “It was easy.”
“We understood quite early that it was something special, and we just wanted to continue,” says Sareika.
The group was accepted by the Queen Elisabeth College, where Sareika had already begun studying, and were taught by the eminent Artemis Quartet. The geographical challenges were considerable.
“We were living in three different countries – ” begins Savary,
” – studying in four different places,” interjects La Marca.
The Trio’s members have a habit of finishing one another’s sentences that is amusing and occasionally unnerving. Sometimes all three answer simultaneously.
Four different places? How did that work?
“It was really difficult,” they chorus.
“Christian-Pierre was living in Paris and studying in Cologne. Amadine was in London, and I was already here,” explains Sareika.
“But we wanted to do it. And we did. And now we are very happy,” continues La Marca.
© Shirley Apthorp 2011
Carl Vine on Trio Dali
It’s easy to imagine that every young child who learns a musical instrument harbours, at some point in their lives, vivid fantasies of becoming an internationally famous virtuoso. Only a small proportion of them, naturally enough, will ever develop the high level of skill required to succeed in such a rarefied profession, and an even smaller proportion will possess the peculiar temperament that can tolerate the incredibly lonely lifestyle of a permanently itinerant solo performer.
The world of chamber music is peppered with wonderful musicians who have tried their hand at the soloist’s trade, and either found the lifestyle too torturous, or failed to find satisfaction by standing, every night, in front of a new, completely unknown, troupe of orchestral musicians, trying to play the same concerto over and over again, better and brighter than anyone else.
Enter chamber ensembles – most particularly string quartets and piano trios – that can forge extremely satisfying collective careers spanning decades, by travelling around with a small number of their closest friends, dwelling day after day inside some of the grandest musical inventions of the human mind. Although the material rewards are nowhere near as generous, the personal and musical rewards are massive.
The best chamber music groups are not created simply by putting the most virtuosic soloists together in a room – as has been discovered to the occasional surprise of patrons at some of the world’s most prestigious music festivals. For chamber music demands, even more than phenomenal technique and individual brilliance, a perfectly shared aesthetic, and utter accord in seeking mutual musical excellence.
As we so often find with groups that tour for Musica Viva, the members of Trio Dali discovered their artistic commonality quite by accident. After a period of wondering what to do with this unexpected gift, they all agreed to sacrifice substantial chunks of their burgeoning independent solo careers to develop the musical magic unique to chamber music performance. Three young virtuosi set out explicitly to form an outstanding group based on mutual respect, and love of the piano trio form.
None of the players was previously familiar with the music of our Featured Composer for 2012, Gordon Kerry, but they discovered immediate points of resonance in his second piano trio, ‘Im Winde’. They are attracted equally by its colour, atmosphere and architecture, and look forward to adding it to their growing catalogue of music by living composers with whom they’ve worked at first hand.
Ravel’s Piano Trio (1914), on the other hand, has been part of the group’s repertoire from the start, and they consider it one of the great masterpieces of the genre. Their recent performance of it at the 2012 Haydn Competition in Vienna was declared the ‘Best Interpretation of a Piece from the 20th Century’. The group’s other most favoured work is Schubert’s second piano trio (op. 100) that closes the concert program, giving a solid glimpse of the full spectrum of the trio’s repertoire.
Carl Vine
Artistic Director
Trio Dali: What’s in a name?
A fun fact for a Friday: Trio Dali named itself not after the painter, but for a type of Chines marble, which when carved denotes both beauty and strength. The material is progressively and fastidiously carved to produce works of art. This work, this thoughtful and creative shaping, reflects the Trio’s essential musical values.
A Dali marble vase
Says violinist Vineta Sareika, “It took us a long time to find the right name for the ensemble. The Dali marble was interesting for us because of its beauty and the parallel with the music making process. To get jewelry from a rough dali stone you need to take time to work hard and take care about every millimetre of the material – it’s like when you see a piece of music for the first time – it’s just the rough material – you will need hours and hours to build it, to think about the construction and the interpretation of the piece. And at the end you have a hope to get a masterpiece. That’s the symbolism of our name.”
Interview with Trio Dali’s Vineta Sareika
Vineta Sareika
We were invited all three as soloists two years in a row to the Santander chamber music festival. Actually we didn’t have the chance to play any note together at that time but we felt a very strong human connection and a solid friendship between us so we decided a couple of months later that it’s a pity to let it go and that we should start to build something together. At the beginning it was very difficult, we were living and still studying in four different countries – France, Germany, England and Belgium – so at our beginning we met regularly once a month in our middle point – near Brussels to work and study the trio repertoire with our teachers – the Artemis quartet in the Queen Elisabeth college of Music.
Who came up with the idea to name the trio after Chinese marble ‘Dali’? Is there a story behind this?
It took us a long time to find the right name for the ensemble. The Dali marble was interesting for us because of its beauty and the parallel with the music making process. To get jewelry from a rough dali stone you need to take time to work hard and take care about every millimetre of the material – it’s like when you see a piece of music for the first time – it’s just the rough material – you will need hours and hours to build it, to think about the construction and the interpretation of the piece. And at the end you have a hope to get a masterpiece. That’s the symbolism of our name.
How do you develop your own vision in every piece? Do you each work on your own interpretation first, or is it a collaborative process right from the start?
Sure, we prepare our parts individually first and each of us comes to the first rehearsal already with his own musical vision of the piece. We are lucky because most of the time we don’t need to fight or even to discuss the interpretation too long – our three visions are very close and we feel the music in a very similar way. It makes the rehearsal process much more fluid and quick.
As young musicians, do you think it is important to adapt music to encourage young audience engagement?
We think it’s very important to be constantly in contact with young audiences – to go to schools and take time to speak about music with children in a very simple and human way. It’s important that young people understand that the world of classical music is cool and accessible to everybody. The most important when you come to a concert is to be open minded and full of fantasy and imagination – it’s much more important than having a solid historic and musical education. It should come after, when the child already gets the magic of sounds by himself.
Can you choose a highlight of this program?
All three pieces that we are going to perform are so different from each other and have such an important place in our trio life that it’s difficult to say which one is our favourite. Both Ravel and Schubert trios are absolute highlights of the trio repertoire in general , we have played them a lot and what makes these compositions so incredibly rich and beautiful is that every single time we touch to this music, we can find new colours and interpretation ideas. The creativity that we can find with such genius music is endless! Regarding the Gordon Kerry piece, it’s a discovery for us and it’s very interesting to work on a composition by an Australian composer. We will discover it together!
Is there something in particular you hope audiences will take home with them after seeing your performances in this concert series?
Above all we hope that every person that will take time to come to our concerts will live an emotional experience and forget his or her everyday occupations or troubles. We would love to try to make people happier, make them feel at peace with themselves and just let the music be the best universal medicine for every single person, no matter his age, social background or nationality.
Using one word, how would you describe each of you?
Amandine – air
Christian-Pierre – earth
Vineta – fire
Introducing Trio Dali
Born out of strong ties of friendship and a shared passion for chamber music repertoire, Trio Dali formed in 2006 and has attracted attention by winning major prizes in international competitions in Osaka, Frankfurt, New York and Vienna; and received the prestigious Chamber Music Award from the Philharmonia Orchestra in London. Trio Dali has since become one of the most sought-after chamber ensembles, knighted by the press and compared to the legends that are the Beaux Arts Trio or the Istomin–Stern–Rose Trio.
The Trio’s name is a reference to the precious Asiatic marble from the Chinese city of Dali, a material that is progressively and fastidiously carved to produce works of art. This work, this thoughtful and creative shaping, the symbols of Dali’s marble, reflects the Trio’s essential musical values.
Trio Dali has appeared across Europe, the Middle East, the US and Asia and collaborates with eminent artists such as Maria João Pires, Augustin Dumay, Leif Ove Andsnes, Daniel Hope, Lawrence Power, Michel Portal, Jian Wang, José van Dam, Thierry Escaich, Gábor Takács and György Kurtág.
Having studied at the Queen Elisabeth College in Brussels with the Artemis Quartet and Augustin Dumay, with occasional lessons from Menahem Pressler, Trio Dali is now continuing its studies with the Artemis Quartet at the Berlin University of the Arts.
The Trio has released two recordings on the Fuga Libera (Harmonia Mundi) label, both of which have received international critical acclaim and multiple awards: an album dedicated to Ravel, and a disc of Schubert Trios.
Trio Dali holds a residency at the Singer-Polignac Foundation in Paris. From 2008 to 2010, it held a residency and teaching assignments at Royal Academy of Music in London, with the support of the Leverhulme Fellowship.
Farewell St Lawrence String Quartet; Bienvenue Trio Dali!
The St Lawrence String Quartet departed Australia yesterday, following a performance for the Melbourne members of Musica Viva’s Amadeus society on Sunday. We’ve loved having the ensemble with us these past few weeks and would also like to thank Diana Doherty for bringing her incredible joy and musicality to the tour program.
And now it’s time to look forward to our next tour, the young Trio Dali making their Australian debut in just over three weeks. The three electrifying musicians of Trio Dali met at a festival in Spain two years in a row and decided to try life as a piano trio. Their compelling performances and original way of approaching the music have taken the musical world by storm.
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