Chamber ensemble Trio Karénine to perform at UD this weekend

Oct. 27—Much has changed in the world since Trio Karénine formed in Paris, France in 2009. However, it hasn't dampened the creative enthusiasm of Louis Rodde (cello), Paloma Kouider (piano) and Charlotte Juillard (violin), who replaced Fanny Robilliard in 2021.

University of Dayton's ArtsLIVE presents Trio Karénine in a Vanguard Legacy Concert in UD's Sears Recital Hall on Sunday, Oct. 30. The award-winning chamber ensemble is still adjusting to life after the coronavirus lockdown.

"It was difficult to have all the concerts canceled during all the COVID time," Rodde said. "But it was also good to have a moment where the tension comes down a bit. We were able to focus on a more personal view of life."

Adaptation has always been important to longevity as a professional musician and the group is grateful to tour again.

"It was quite the relief to actually be able to play, to be able to perform and share," Rodde said. "Of course, you can always listen to music on your laptop and on your wonderful device, but we all know it's another thing completely to share the room with someone and share the vibrations and the connection between the musician and the public."

Celebrating Vienna

Sunday's concert is one of two dates Trio Karénine is doing in North America on this trip. The trio has created a special program for each show. Daytonians will hear the ensemble perform pieces by Franz Schubert and Erich Wolfgang Korngold.

"We chose to perform a Viennese program for Dayton," Rodde said. "We wanted to focus on Schubert's big trio in E-flat major. That's a very famous one. We're also doing another very short Schubert piano trio in one movement. We thought it would be nice to combine those with a very early Korngold piece, which he wrote for piano trio when he was like 14. It was before he went to the U.S. to have a huge career as the composer we all know. He was a student in Vienna, in this very dynamic city where all the styles were changing. He had his own very particular style and this early Korngold trio is extremely pretty. When you think he wrote this as a child it's almost unbelievable."

On the record

Trio Karénine began its ongoing relationship with French record label Mirare in 2016 with the release of a collection of piano trios by Robert Schumann. The album received five awards from French music publication, Diapasons. The 2018 follow-up, "Musique française," featured pieces by Maurice Ravel, Gabriel Faure and Germaine Tailleferre.

The ensemble released "Chostakovitch, Weinberg, Dvorak," a 2019 album with trios from the composers, followed by "La Nuit Transfigurée," transcriptions of Schoneberg, Liszt and Schumann, in 2021. The latter release earned Trio Karénine five more Diapasons. The group has more music slated for release next year.

"We have two older recordings on the way," Rodde said. "The first one will be out in early February 2023. It includes Dvorak Trio op. 65 in F Major and works for piano trio from Joseph Suk. We also have another recording that will be released later in the year. It has two triple concertos from two contemporary French composers, Philippe Hersant and Benoit Menut, who wrote his new triple concerto for the trio."

Embracing change

After more than a decade together, a recent membership change and other external factors, Trio Karénine continues to evolve.

"We have existed for 13 years, which is quite a long time," Rodde said. "It's a very exciting musical adventure to be together, performing and traveling and doing research on the music. With the years, the aesthetic of the group evolves. The format of the piano trio plus violin and cello combines the demands of a very homogeneous group to really be able to perform as an ensemble in the same bubble. Every performer can really express himself or herself very strongly. Piano trio is a very nice combination in the sense of the group and the individuality as well, which is really nice. We can really perform pieces from all the periods of time."

Old and new

While Trio Karénine works with a lot of older repertoire, Rodde and his fellow musicians are also dedicated to performing pieces from contemporary composers.

"We actually want to perform a very wide bunch of repertoire," he said. "Of course, we are very attached to the beginning classics such as Beethoven, Mozart, Haydn and Schubert but our repertoire has its core in the German romanticism with trios of Mendelsohn, Schumann, Schubert and Brahms. We are (also) very proud to be able to perform new repertoire to support new composers. We want to perform a lot of everything and also introduce new pieces for piano trio and help with the availability of new pieces."

Contact this contributing writer at 937-287-6139 or e-mail at donthrasher100@gmail.com.

HOW TO GO

What: University of Dayton's ArtsLIVE presents Trio Karénine

Where: University of Dayton, Sears Recital Hall, Jesse Philips Humanities Center, 300 College Park, Dayton

When: 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 30

Cost: Free for UD students, $18 general admission, $15 seniors 60 and older and UD alumni, $10 UD employees and retirees, $5 youth and students younger than 21; season tickets are available

More info: 937-229-2545 or udayton.edu

Artist info: https://triokarenine.com