Audio / Video
“...convinced not only with its spirited temperament and breathtaking virtuosity, but above all by a beguiling mix of ethereal sound and sensitive agogic.”
BR-Klassik about the Mendelssohn CD - text translated
Trailer: new Schubert recording released in June 2017
Joseph Marx: “Trio-Phantasie” (1914) – 2. Adagietto
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy: Piano Trio No. 2 in C minor, op. 66 – 1. Allegro
Crowdfunding project on “startnext” for our first CD recording of Mendelssohn piano trios
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy
Piano Trio No.1 in D minor, op. 49, 2. Andante con moto tranquillo
Joseph Marx
Trio-Phantasie, 5. Tanz-Finale
Discography
Dmitri Shostakovich: Piano Trios Op.8 & Op.67
Bedrich Smetana: Piano Trio Op.15
MDG – Musikproduktion Dabringhaus und Grimm
Franz Schubert: Piano Trio No.2 in E-flat Major & Notturno
MDG – Musikproduktion Dabringhaus und Grimm
Joseph Marx: Trio-Phantasie and Ballade
with Wen Xiao Zheng, Viola
MDG – Musikproduktion Dabringhaus und Grimm
awarded with the PASTICCIO prize (June 2015) from Austrian national broadcast Ö1
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy: Piano Trios op. 49 & op.66
MDG – Musikproduktion Dabringhaus und Grimm
awarded with the PASTICCIO prize (April 2013) from Austrian national broadcast Ö1
CD recommendation at Bayrischen Rundfunk
Press Reviews
Concert Reviews
“Extremely lively, expressive, and yet exact, technically perfect - but never inanimate. In the second movement in particular an all-embracing tension was developing. Even before the intermission, the applause of the visitors of the master-concert was euphoric.”
Tiroler Tageszeitung on the concert at the Meister- and Kammerkonzerte Innsbruck, January 2019
“Even on Good Friday morning, the 700 seats are well occupied when an Austrian trio plays Schubert, followed by Clara Schumann’s Trio for pianoforte and her husband Robert’s first Trio in d-minor. Admirably sustained, intensive, and tense does this German music sound, as performed by Trio Alba.
Manuel Brug’s Blog on klassiker.welt.de on the Classics Festival Bogotà, April 2019
„Youthful energy as had not been experienced this summer in Euphrasius Basilica before, and an impeccable and passionate musical performance fascinated the audience. Standing ovations and intensive applause followed. Trio Alba deserved it for every single note played. Part of the audience even remained on the spot a er the obvious end of the concert.“
Regional Express Croatia on the concert in Euphrasius Basilica of Porec, July 2017
„With pliable contours and great passion the young Trio Alba emphasized romantic elegance and songfulness in Mendelssohn’s first piano trio of 1839.“
Kronenzeitung on the Chamber Music Gala 200 Years Musikverein Graz, April 2015
„Trio Alba presented a program as it should be. Between two standard works they placed pieces of women composers that probably had never been performed in Salzburg before. The young and passionate ensemble handed out a very enjoyable visiting card. The audience enjoyed the refreshing performance that reached its climax in Robert Schumann’s trio in d-minor. The three musicians played this work not only with an absolutely safe technique but also with an immediate and exploding passion, with a sense of shining tone-color and with miraculously adapted lyricism.“
Drehpunkt Kultur on the concert in the Stiftung Mozarteum, Salzburg, November 2015
„They provided not only technically impeccable interpretations, but let you hear and feel their hearts as well.“
Arimas, Switzerland, May 2014
„The Trio Alba managed a splendidly thoughtful grasp of Mendelssohn‘s Trio No. 2, overflowing with expressive joy and technical panache, however not robbing the work of its delicate secrets.“
Kronenzeitung, February 2013
„Constantly in visual contact with each other, the three young musicians shared their joy of performing with the audience. The perfectly attuned trio convinced with great air, ease and temperament. With amazing balance and finely tuned structure, they achieved a harmonious entity. A brilliant finale brought the audience to break out in frenetic applause.“
Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung, December 2012
„..these young people showed that the language of music finds common ground for such diverse people as a Chinese pianist, a German violinist and an Austro-Italian cellist. They form an accomplished team with very similar ideas of phrasing and execution... These artists should have a fine career.“
Buenos Aires Herald, April 2011
„The peak of quality was the concert by the Trio Alba ... Throughout the concert, the young trio showed a rare maturity in their interpretation. The musicians managed with great empathy and a wide range of timbres always to bring the music to wherever they intended.“
Diario Perfil, April 2011
CD Reviews
F. Schubert: Piano trio No.2 E flat major – Notturno
MDG 2017
"...the journey continues triumphantly to the coda which is one of the best executed on disc - all parts are heard and phrased so that what is usually only seen on paper is heard. A wonderful experience which repays repeated listening."
"Trio Alba’s stunning new recording of Schubert’s second Piano Trio is exceptional in the modern fashion: almost casually virtuosic, bright eyed, bushy tailed and up on the latest scholarship."
"Schubert’s Second Piano Trio is a highly demanding piece of chamber music. Here it is heard in a captivating technically flawless and musically rich performance. Absolutely recommendable!"
Joseph Marx: Trio-Phantasie (1914) & Ballade (Pianoquartet – Wen Xiao Zheng)
MDG 2014
„these two works are outstandingly played, judiciously placed and with lots of artistic air and perceptive detail. e unity of the group is remarkable. is is complemented by excellent individual intonation.“
„If one plays the colorful Trio Fantasy of Joseph Marx as emotionally as the Trio Alba, one can only remain enchanted by this literature. The romantic gesture, the ardently relished escalations, and the permanent contrasts in every detail are exactly the appropriate setting for the music of this composer. “
ensemble, 2014
„...the young Trio Alba has recorded the Trio-Fantasy with good sense for the often far-flung adventures in harmony: a woefully neglected part of Austrian history of music.“
Wilhelm Sinkovicz, Die Presse, November 2014
„At any rate Trio Alba has carried through the only true form of rehabilitation in that the three young interpreters have recorded his works in a new album with a power of expression, with a precision and an expressivity appropriate to the great masters.“
H. Jasbar, Radio Österreich I, May 2015
F. Mendelssohn Bartholdy: Piano trios op. 49, op. 66
MDG 2013
„...well achieved mix of delicacy and virtuosity (...).
(...) convincingly solid collaboration and ease with which the musicians dynamically interact.“
(...) convincingly solid collaboration and ease with which the musicians dynamically interact.“
FonoForum, July 2013
„The version heard here is delightful and can sustain any comparison. The Trio Alba powers itself to a thrilling interpretation.“
ensemble, 2013
„This is the debut disc by Trio Alba and they play with satisfying immediacy. These vital and expressive performances are a sheer delight.“
„They convince wih a sturdy sound, excellent interplay and sensitive immersion into musical structures.“
Der Standard, April 2013
„The Mendelssohn interpretation of the three from the Trio Alba convinced not only with its spirited temperament and breathtaking virtuosity, but above all by a beguiling mix of ethereal sound and sensitive agogic. The ensemble achieves a marvellously homogeneous sound and a sensitive immersion in the finely branched chamber music lyricism of Mendelssohn. Here we have Mendelssohn‘s Piano Trio-Oeuvre in a sensitive and fresh interpretation, presented through a completely convincing recording technique.“
BR-Klassik, October 2013
„The young Alba Trio enters upon a crowded field but holds its own against the competition. The three are accomplished musicians individually and collectively; their sound is beautifully integrated, and their interpretations are sound and highly compelling.“
Audiophile Audition, May 2013
„Very vital, but also with a gentle lyrical breath, rhythmically concise and meticulous in detail: thus plays a homogeneous and atmospheric Trio Alba on its first CD.“
Kleine Zeitung, February 2013
„The ensemble provides a consistently excellent performance in its debut. Easily and naturally, homogeneously and well balanced, the young musicians have command of the trios whose romantic-poetic aspects they bring out so clearly.“
Kronenzeitung, April 2013