trio balthasar
michael foyle violin · timothy hugh cello · iain burnside piano
Sunday 22 October 2023, 3pm · Holy Trinity Church, Haddington
Haydn: Trio in E minor, Hob XV:12
Shostakovich: Trio no 2 in E minor, Op.67 Ravel: Trio in A minor |
This London-based piano trio is made up of three superb musicians, each renowned as a soloist and/or chamber musician on the international stage and praised for their vivacity, emotional depth and breathtaking playing. Their imaginative programme features two great 20th-century classics—gripping and passionate with undertones of war—preceded by a Haydn trio whose characteristic elegance and charm is underpinned by a darker hue.
TRIO BALTHASAR is a new chamber group. Committed to imaginative, diverse programming, they explore established classics of the piano trio repertoire next to less familiar work. Since their launch at Wigmore Hall in 2022 they have appeared at the Harrogate International Festival, the Rye Festival, Petworth Festival and the Kirker Music Festival on Ischia. The name Balthasar was initially suggested as a homage to the German baroque architect Balthasar Neumann, and with Balthasar also the name of one of the Wise Men in the Nativity story, there developed the idea of three men on a journey, bearing gifts. Each member of the Trio Balthasar has been praised for their vivacity, emotional depth and breathtaking playing.
MICHAEL FOYLE violin
Praised for performances of ‘compelling conviction’ (Daily Telegraph), ‘full of sparkling detail, with tonal beauty and incisive rhythmic clarity, balancing wit and poetry’ (Strad), Michael launched his career by winning The Netherlands Violin Competition 2016. His performance of Szymanowski’s Violin Concerto No.1 with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra led to an immediate invitation to give his debut recital in the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam.
His London debut followed with a recital at the Wigmore Hall and since then he has performed recitals in Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room, Buckingham Palace, St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Bridgewater Hall and Usher Hall, regularly being broadcast on BBC Radio 3.
Recent concerto appearances include with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra, Polish Baltic Philharmonic and Youth Symphony Orchestra of Russia. He gives recitals at festivals worldwide, including St. Magnus International, New York Chamber Music, Grachtenfestival Amsterdam, Cervantino Mexico and Mravinsky Festival St. Petersburg.
His recorded cycle of Beethoven Sonatas in 2022 received five stars in BBC Music Magazine’s review, and similar critical acclaim followed previous releases of World War One sonatas and the complete violin-piano works of Lutoslawski and Penderecki (‘Foyle’s playing is remarkable’ – BBC Music Magazine).
Alongside his performing career, Michael is Professor of Violin at the Royal Academy of Music in London (the youngest appointed in the institution’s 200-year history) and at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz in Cologne. He plays a Gennaro Gagliano violin on loan.
TIMOTHY HUGH cello
Tim Hugh is the Principal Cello of the London Symphony Orchestra. Following his success at the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, Tim enjoys an international career as a soloist. He has worked and recorded with many of the greatest conductors including Valery Gergiev, André Previn, Bernard Haitink, Mstislav Rostropovich, Yehudi Menuhin, Daniel Harding, Sir Colin Davis, Sir Andrew Davis, François-Xavier Roth, Myung-Whun Chung, and Yan Pascal Tortelier.
Tim studied at Yale with Aldo Parisot, and later with William Pleeth and Jaqueline du Pré whilst gaining his MA in Medicine and Anthropology at St Johns College, Cambridge. An interest in contemporary music led to performances of Boulez’ Messagesquisse, Dutilleux’s Tout un monde lontain, Britten’s Cello Symphony, and Hugh Wood’s Cello Concerto, all at the BBC Proms. As solo cellist with the LSO he has performed Strauss Don Quixote, and Elgar, Shostakovich, Haydn, Dvořák, Messiaen and Walton concertos. He has also performed the Elgar, Brahms, Saint-Saëns, Emil Tabakov, and Ahmet Adnan Saygun concertos across the world, the last two also recorded and recently released. He gave the UK, German, and Dutch premieres of the Tishchenko Cello Concerto with the LSO and Valery Gergiev. His performance of Shostakovich 2nd concerto with St Petersburg SO is on YouTube.
He has given recitals in London, New York, Portugal, Beirut, and has recorded much of the piano trio repertoire with the Solomon Trio. Other recordings include: Fauré piano quartets as a member of Domus; numerous recital discs, including “Hands on Heart”, live from Wigmore Hall, in memory of his brother Steve; Britten’s three Cello Suites (for both Hyperion and Naxos); concertos by Walton, Bliss, Finzi, Boccherini, Hoffman, Holst, and CPE Bach; and a Bach Cello Suites recording (“the best performance on a modern cello”, BBC Music Magazine). With Haitink, Gordan Nikolitch and Lars Vogt, he recorded the Brahms Double and Beethoven Triple concertos, and he recorded the Beethoven again with Tasmin Little and Howard Shelley as part of Shelley’s Beethoven cycle.
IAIN BURNSIDE piano
Internationally acclaimed as a leading collaborative pianist, ("pretty much ideal" BBC Music Magazine) Iain Burnside has worked with many of the world’s great singers. His discography features over fifty CDs, spanning a huge sweep of repertoire. Highlights include the Gramophone Award-winning NMC Songbook, Schubert cycles with baritone Roderick Williams on Chandos and a series of English Song for Naxos. He enjoys a close relationship with Delphian, featuring boxed sets of Medtner and Rachmaninoff (“the results are electrifying” Daily Telegraph) as well as explorations of Scottish, English and Irish repertoire. He is Artistic Director of the Ludlow English Song Weekend and curates programmes for a variety of festivals and at Wigmore Hall, most recently with a spotlight on Russian song.
Burnside is also an award-winning broadcaster, familiar to listeners of BBC Radio 3, earning a Sony Radio Award for Voices. He has pioneered a particular form of dramatic concert, with works based variously around Franz Schubert, Clara Schumann and Ivor Gurney. His most recent piece, A View from the Villa, unpicks Wagner’s relationship with Mathilde Wesendonck, and will feature at festivals in 2021. He has a long association with the Guildhall School and gives masterclasses at home and abroad whilst also holding the position of Artistic Consultant to Grange Park Opera.
MICHAEL FOYLE violin
Praised for performances of ‘compelling conviction’ (Daily Telegraph), ‘full of sparkling detail, with tonal beauty and incisive rhythmic clarity, balancing wit and poetry’ (Strad), Michael launched his career by winning The Netherlands Violin Competition 2016. His performance of Szymanowski’s Violin Concerto No.1 with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra led to an immediate invitation to give his debut recital in the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam.
His London debut followed with a recital at the Wigmore Hall and since then he has performed recitals in Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room, Buckingham Palace, St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Bridgewater Hall and Usher Hall, regularly being broadcast on BBC Radio 3.
Recent concerto appearances include with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra, Polish Baltic Philharmonic and Youth Symphony Orchestra of Russia. He gives recitals at festivals worldwide, including St. Magnus International, New York Chamber Music, Grachtenfestival Amsterdam, Cervantino Mexico and Mravinsky Festival St. Petersburg.
His recorded cycle of Beethoven Sonatas in 2022 received five stars in BBC Music Magazine’s review, and similar critical acclaim followed previous releases of World War One sonatas and the complete violin-piano works of Lutoslawski and Penderecki (‘Foyle’s playing is remarkable’ – BBC Music Magazine).
Alongside his performing career, Michael is Professor of Violin at the Royal Academy of Music in London (the youngest appointed in the institution’s 200-year history) and at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz in Cologne. He plays a Gennaro Gagliano violin on loan.
TIMOTHY HUGH cello
Tim Hugh is the Principal Cello of the London Symphony Orchestra. Following his success at the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, Tim enjoys an international career as a soloist. He has worked and recorded with many of the greatest conductors including Valery Gergiev, André Previn, Bernard Haitink, Mstislav Rostropovich, Yehudi Menuhin, Daniel Harding, Sir Colin Davis, Sir Andrew Davis, François-Xavier Roth, Myung-Whun Chung, and Yan Pascal Tortelier.
Tim studied at Yale with Aldo Parisot, and later with William Pleeth and Jaqueline du Pré whilst gaining his MA in Medicine and Anthropology at St Johns College, Cambridge. An interest in contemporary music led to performances of Boulez’ Messagesquisse, Dutilleux’s Tout un monde lontain, Britten’s Cello Symphony, and Hugh Wood’s Cello Concerto, all at the BBC Proms. As solo cellist with the LSO he has performed Strauss Don Quixote, and Elgar, Shostakovich, Haydn, Dvořák, Messiaen and Walton concertos. He has also performed the Elgar, Brahms, Saint-Saëns, Emil Tabakov, and Ahmet Adnan Saygun concertos across the world, the last two also recorded and recently released. He gave the UK, German, and Dutch premieres of the Tishchenko Cello Concerto with the LSO and Valery Gergiev. His performance of Shostakovich 2nd concerto with St Petersburg SO is on YouTube.
He has given recitals in London, New York, Portugal, Beirut, and has recorded much of the piano trio repertoire with the Solomon Trio. Other recordings include: Fauré piano quartets as a member of Domus; numerous recital discs, including “Hands on Heart”, live from Wigmore Hall, in memory of his brother Steve; Britten’s three Cello Suites (for both Hyperion and Naxos); concertos by Walton, Bliss, Finzi, Boccherini, Hoffman, Holst, and CPE Bach; and a Bach Cello Suites recording (“the best performance on a modern cello”, BBC Music Magazine). With Haitink, Gordan Nikolitch and Lars Vogt, he recorded the Brahms Double and Beethoven Triple concertos, and he recorded the Beethoven again with Tasmin Little and Howard Shelley as part of Shelley’s Beethoven cycle.
IAIN BURNSIDE piano
Internationally acclaimed as a leading collaborative pianist, ("pretty much ideal" BBC Music Magazine) Iain Burnside has worked with many of the world’s great singers. His discography features over fifty CDs, spanning a huge sweep of repertoire. Highlights include the Gramophone Award-winning NMC Songbook, Schubert cycles with baritone Roderick Williams on Chandos and a series of English Song for Naxos. He enjoys a close relationship with Delphian, featuring boxed sets of Medtner and Rachmaninoff (“the results are electrifying” Daily Telegraph) as well as explorations of Scottish, English and Irish repertoire. He is Artistic Director of the Ludlow English Song Weekend and curates programmes for a variety of festivals and at Wigmore Hall, most recently with a spotlight on Russian song.
Burnside is also an award-winning broadcaster, familiar to listeners of BBC Radio 3, earning a Sony Radio Award for Voices. He has pioneered a particular form of dramatic concert, with works based variously around Franz Schubert, Clara Schumann and Ivor Gurney. His most recent piece, A View from the Villa, unpicks Wagner’s relationship with Mathilde Wesendonck, and will feature at festivals in 2021. He has a long association with the Guildhall School and gives masterclasses at home and abroad whilst also holding the position of Artistic Consultant to Grange Park Opera.