ATOS Trio: Fauré - Trio in d-minor, op 120 (1923)

Gabriel Faure´ (1845-1924) - Piano Trio in d-minor, op.120

00:20 - 06:43 I. Allegro ma non troppo
06:55 - 16:40 II. Andantino
16:46 - 21:20 III. Allegro vivo

"..and so one says good-bye, little by little..." (Faure in a letter to his son)

Gabriel Faure was 78 years old when he composed his only Piano Trio, op.120. Almost at the end of his life and ouvre, the aging composer could not hear anymore and was almost blind. At the heart of this trio is a tender Andantino, which must be one of the most beautiful, "innig" moments in all of French Chambermusic, this simple and haunting work Faure composed first, and then conceived and placed the other movements around it. The complex harmonies, strange colors and heartbreaking simplicity combined with an immense passion for life and an almost stubborn sense of inner strength makes this a typical example of Faure´s late works. A critic remarked, upon hearing the first performance of op.120: "...where indeed will he go, if he should become a hundred years old?"

recorded live at Konzerthaus Berlin / March 5, 2020

ATOS Trio
Annette von Hehn, violin
Stefan Heinemeyer, violoncello
Thomas Hoppe, piano

Felix Epp, video & sound (felix-epp.de)
Alexander Wollheim, pageturner