Red Bank Chamber Music Society – Free Concert: Hermitage Piano Trio - November 8, 4:30 PM

The Hermitage Piano Trio brings two seldom-heard American works full of melody and Romantic warmth to Red Bank on Sunday, November 8, pairing music by Horatio Parker and Vittorio Giannini with Schumann’s Third Piano Trio. The free Red Bank Chamber Music Society concert begins at 4:30 PM at Trinity Episcopal Church, 50 White Street, Red Bank.

Parker influenced Charles Ives, and Giannini’s students included John Corigliano and Herbie Hancock. This concert offers a chance to hear the teachers’ own music: two composers who drew on European traditions to write chamber works rich in lyrical expression. Heard alongside Schumann, their music reveals how much life the Romantic tradition found in American hands.

Horatio Parker’s Suite for Piano Trio in A major, Op. 35 takes its outline from the Baroque dance suite, but its warmth and sweeping melodies belong to the Romantic era. The minuet often feels closer to a waltz, while the slow Romance gives the strings a long, yearning melody. A march-like finale brings a contrasting, calmer middle section before the opening energy returns.

Vittorio Giannini’s Piano Trio (1931) reflects a composer who championed expressive melody while many of his contemporaries explored more experimental paths. Its opening movement unfolds at an unhurried pace, with a flowing theme whose five-beat pulse gives it an unusual rhythmic shape.

The slow movement, Andante triste, turns to a tender exchange among the instruments, building gradually to a soaring climax. The finale changes the character again, replacing the long lyrical lines with more urgent, driving energy and haunting harmonies. Even its final chord brings a surprise.

After intermission, Robert Schumann’s Piano Trio No. 3 in G minor, Op. 110 plunges straight into a passionate melody, with no introduction to prepare the way. Schumann completed the work in a single week in October 1851; its uneven rhythms, irregular phrases and unexpected changes of key give the music a restless urgency.

There is tenderness here, too: the slow movement begins with violin and cello singing together over the piano before a darker central passage intervenes. A restless scherzo follows, but the finale takes a different turn. Marked “powerful, with humor,” it brings a lively, playful ending to a work that began in such agitation.

ABOUT HERMITAGE PIANO TRIO

The United States-based Hermitage Piano Trio brings together violinist Misha Keylin, cellist Sergey Antonov and pianist Ilya Kazantsev. The ensemble has earned multiple GRAMMY® Award nominations and performs internationally, alongside educational and outreach work. Its recordings for Reference Recordings include Rachmaninoff and Spanish Impressions.

Performers: Misha Keylin, violin; Sergey Antonov, cello; Ilya Kazantsev, piano.

ABOUT THE RED BANK CHAMBER MUSIC SOCIETY

The Red Bank Chamber Music Society presents chamber music concerts free of charge for the community. Its activities are supported primarily by contributions from its members.

Admission is free. No tickets required.

Program details, advance notes, and ways to support RBCMS are available at www.rbcms.org.