Trio Dali ‘transforms the score into something precious’

Fresh from its victories at the 5th International Joseph Haydn Chamber Music Competition held in Vienna over February and March this year, Trio Dali brings its winning style to Sydney for Musica Viva.

Awarded the Audience Prize and the 3rd prize in the overall Piano Trio competition, Trio Dali also won the special prize for the ‘Best interpretation of a composition of the 20th or 21st century’  for their performance of Ravel’s Piano Trio in A minor, a work that they will perform here. Ravel’s music also happens to be what they performed on their very first CD recorded on Harmonia Mundi for which they won the Diapason d’Or in 2009. Their boxed set of Schubert trios was the Gramophone Editor’s Choice in 2011.

Violinist Vineta Sareika plays a 1793 Joseph Guadagnini, cellist Christian-Pierre la Marca plays a Matteo Goffriller from 1700. Pianist Amandine Savary completes the trio.

Based in France, Trio Dali was formed in 2006, by three friends with a passion for chamber music. Their name derives from a type of marble from the Chinese city of Dali that is meticulously carved to form exquisite works of art, that are both beautiful and strong, reflecting the musical values of the ensemble. Cellist Christian-Pierre La Marca, comments: “You work on the marble to make it a piece of art, something very precious. Our idea was to take this symbolism and describe what we want to do with the music, transforming the score into something equally precious.”

Despite developing solo careers the three musicians found that “we were walking in the same direction and we thought…there is the potential to continue”, says pianist Amandine Savary. Their compelling performances and original approach have taken the chamber music world by storm. “We try to make our own vision of every piece” says violinist Vineta Sareika.

Since their formation, Trio Dali has performed in concert halls and on radio all over the world, by themselves and in collaboration with acclaimed soloists. They have accumulated a string of competition wins and undertaken residencies at the Royal Academy of Music London and in Paris. Presently, they study with the Artemis Quartet in Berlin.

Also on the programme is self- confessed Francophile Gordon Kerry’s Piano Trio No 2,  Im Winde, which premiered at the Wigmore Hall in 2000. To this, the trio brings its unique French understanding. In their interpretation of Schubert, the trio exposes the two complementary sides of the composer – the humanity and the humour. As Sareika puts it, “he’s very, very human, and even in the tears the laughter is never very far away with Schubert.”

The programme:

KERRY Im Winde (2000)
RAVEL Piano Trio in A minor (1914)
SCHUBERT Piano Trio No.2 in E flat major, Op.100

Tickets start from $31. Book at www.cityrecitalhall.com  call (02) 8256 2222 or in person at the Box Office, 2 Angel Place, Sydney