Since the 1990s, the Eroica Trio has been dazzling audiences with their musicianship and style. I first discovered them in 1997, when they were an artist in residence at NPR. That was the same year the show Performance Today recognized the trio with an award for “Debut Recording of the Year.” At their recent concert in San Antonio, they revisited one of the pieces from that first record, “Café Music,” by Paul Schoenfeld.
The Eroica Trio’s roots go all the way back to their teenage years, when the members met and began performing together as students. Since their official formation, the trio has released seven albums and one “Best Of” collection on EMI Records. The group has performed in San Antonio several times, both for the San Antonio Chamber Music Society, as well as for the Tuesday Musical Club, who were presenting this concert as the opening program of the 100th Artist Series. The members of the trio were awestruck by the organization's century of performance.
“To have this community support this series for a hundred years is just a testament to the grit and determination of the founders, and of the women who have continued to keep pouring their passion and their excitement and all of their talents into bringing great music to San Antonio,” said cellist Sara Sant’Ambrogio following the concert.
Their program opens with Anne Dudley’s arrangement for the trio of Bach’s “Chaconne” from the Partita No. 2, which pianist Erika Nickrenz said fits the ensemble beautifully.
“Sometimes, more often than not, [with] an arrangement we'll be coming back [to the composer] with ideas and edits. We didn't do anything. We didn’t touch it. It was just perfect the way she wrote it,” Nickrenz said.
The show also includes music by Tomaso Albinoni, Camille Saint-Saens, and Felix Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio No. 2, which Sant’Ambrogio called “deeper and richer” than the composer’s more famous Trio No. 1.
Enjoy this program from the Eroica Trio recorded at Temple Beth-El on October 24, 2023, by using the audio player at the top of this page.
Program:
- Johann Sebastian Bach: Chaconne, from Partita No. 2
- Tomaso Albinoni: Adagio in G minor
- Paul Schoenfeld: Café Music
- Felix Mendelssohn: Piano Trio in C Minor, No. 2, Op. 66
- Camille Saint-Saens: “The Swan” from “Carnival of the Animals”
