On the way to Romanticism

“As a piano trio, we are fortunate to be able to play so much Beethoven,” says Wu Qian, pianist of the Sitkovetsky Trio. Their complete recording of all the piano trios is regarded as the new benchmark recording. In Beethoven’s music, the trio displays the full range of its abilities, and in the Triple Concerto, the intimacy of chamber music blends with the splendour of the orchestra to form a thrilling whole. 

With the ‘Coriolan’ Overture, Beethoven created a genre that is understood as a musical drama even without knowledge of the narrative source material. This genius impressed the young Franz Schubert – yet his Fifth Symphony still defies the great model and displays the joy of experimentation and the esprit of a young, aspiring composer. ‘Truly, a divine spark dwells within Schubert,’ Beethoven is said to have later praised his young colleague.