The Middlebury Campus

Issue date: 2/17/05 Section: Arts

Media Credit: Nirvana Bhatia Musicians of the Vienna Piano Trio prepare to play a second musical number - a composition by Schubert - for a packed audience on Friday night. The group started off the evening with a piece by Beethoven that showcased the cello, violin and piano. [Click to enlarge]

The Vienna Piano Trio performed a seamless show for the Middlebury College community on Friday, Feb. 11, in the concert hall at the Center for the Arts (CFA). The nighttime program was held in front of a virtually sold-out audience, which was as diverse as the College community spectrum, with older couples, students and young children all in attendance.

Cellist Matthias Gredler, pianist Stefan Mendl and violinist Wolfgang Redik collectively make up the featured classical music group, the Vienna Piano Trio. The group was established in 1988 by Redik, Mendl and Marcus Trefny, the Trio's original cellist. In the past, the Vienna Piano Trio has been under the tutelage of the Haydn Trio-Vienna, LaSalle and Guarneri musical quartets, in addition to the Trio di Trieste.

The Trio performed two pieces on Friday night. Appropriately, both masterpieces were by composers with ties to the city of Vienna. The first, "Piano Trio No.7 in B-flat Major, the Archduke" was written by Beethoven, and the second, entitled "Piano Trio No.1 in B-flat Major," was written by Schubert.

While exiting the hall for the designated intermission period, audience members seemed both excited and awed by the astonishingly complete balance that the musicians were able to create, despite their instrumental differences. One audience member commented on the "amazingly delicate touch" of violinist Redik and the pleasingly "aggressive" piano playing of Mendl.

Stanley Sadie of Gramophone, a classical music magazine, remarked in one article about the Vienna Piano Trio that the "players seem to think and breathe as one." This observation was evident while watching the Trio perform live at the CFA. Positioned in a triangular formation, the three musicians took their cues from one another through careful observation of body language and movement, in addition to rhythmical analysis of the music. As the Trio performed both the Beethoven and the Schubert, the notes transformed the three men into one entity such that they were swaying and singing as if participating in a beautiful and intricate dance.

Past performances of the Vienna Piano Trio include venues throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. They have participated in many prestigious music festivals such as The Festival International Lanaudiere, the Beethoventage Bonn and the Ottawa Chamber Music Festival.

Upcoming appearances for the Vienna Piano Trio are scheduled in Los Angeles, Vancouver and Bógota. For more information on the players, their 11 albums or for concert schedules, visit their Web site at www.viennapianotrio.com.

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