Hundreds of candles illuminate the American Cathedral in Paris, casting a golden light on the majestic interior and the enraptured audience—and on pianist Pauline Chenais, cellist Angèle Legasa, and violinist Clémence de Forceville: the Trio Sōra work their magic in this dreamlike setting, perfect for an evening of enchanting chamber music.
The young ensemble, which has steadily garnered worldwide attention and renown since its founding in 2015, puts the genius of Beethoven on full display in two of his chamber masterpieces: first, the Trio No. 1 in E-flat Major, Op. 1, redolent of the Classical style of Haydn, Beethoven’s most influential teacher; then another E-flat Major Trio, Op. 70, No. 2, composed in 1808 during a remarkably fruitful period that saw the creation of the Fifth and Sixth Symphonies as Beethoven developed a style profoundly his own.
The program concludes with an excerpt from Canadian composer Kelly-Marie Murphy’s Piano Trio, “Give Me Phoenix Wings to Fly.” Murphy describes it as a movement “about rebuilding. The elements of self that survived the devastation, struggle to find one another and emerge from the ashes stronger than before. […] In addition to the myth of the Phoenix, there are two poetic influences for this piece: John Keats (But when I am consumed in the fire / Give me new Phoenix wings to fly at my desire) and Robert Graves (To bring the dead to life / Is no great magic / Few are wholly dead / Blow on a dead man's embers / And a live flame will start.)"
