And now, on Wednesday, Beethoven, again.

Our lives are being shaped by the Marlboro Music Festival!. This is our chance, and we are taking it generously because we know it will end next week. Today they are working on two Beethoven Trios - there are three concerts this coming weekend, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and Beethoven is being played Friday and Saturday. The first one up today is early:Trio in C Minor, Opus 1, No. 3., 1794. The three musicians are Juho Pohjonen, piano; Oliver Neubauer, violin, and Minjoung Kim, cello.

Oliver, Juho and Minjoung playing the Beethoven Piano Trio, Op. 1. The program notes tell us: Beethoven’s great ambitions for his first published opus came to fruition with a set of piano trios that received high public approval, including the third of the set, this piano trio in C Minor. However, not everyone predicted that these trios would be successful. Haydn, whom Beethoven had been a pupil of in the years leading up to the publication of his trios, expressed to Beethoven his doubts about the inclusion of the C Minor trio. This likely well-intentioned comment was thought by Beethoven to be made out of jealousy, and thus he kept the trio. Whatever Haydn’s reasons, the comment was not unfounded; the explosive C Minor trio stands apart not only within the set Beethoven composed, but also against the compositions of Haydn and Mozart. However, the qualities that Haydn feared would drive audiences away appeared to do the opposite, as the C Minor trio became the most popular of the set. ******************************* I don't remember hearing Juho Pohjonen before. What can we learn about him? Juho Pohjonen is regarded as one of today’s most exciting and unique instrumentalists. The Finnish pianist performs widely in Europe, Asia, and North America, collaborating with symphony orchestras and playing in recital and chamber settings. An ardent exponent of Scandinavian music, Pohjonen’s growing discography offers a showcase of music by Finnish compatriots such as Esa-Pekka Salonen, Kaija Saariaho, and Jean Sibelius. This season Pohjonen performs Beethoven’s fifth piano concerto with Finnish Radio Symphony conducted by Giedrė Šlekytė. Elsewhere in Finland he collaborates with Erin Keefe for Mendelssohn’s concerto for violin, piano, and strings with Kymi Sinfonietta, under the direction of Osmo Vänskä, as well as the Macula Musica series in Helsinki. In Europe, his engagements include recitals and chamber music at Festspiele Sudtirol and Surrey Hills International Music Festival. In North America, he continues his long-standing relationship with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, performing at the Lincoln Center and other venues across the United States. He also performs in Minneapolis, San Francisco and Vancouver. Concurrently, he is working on two new albums set for release this season. Last season Pohjonen made his debut in Taiwan with the National Symphony Orchestra as well as joining the musicians of the orchestra for chamber music. He performed Finnish composer Sauli Zinovjev’s new piano concerto with the Lahti Sinfonia as part of a composer focus and joined the German Radio Philharmonic and Pietari Inkinen for Bartok’s first Piano Concerto. Chamber highlights included a concert at Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, New York with Chamber Music Society and recitals in Helsinki amongst others. An advocate for contemporary repertoire, recent seasons have seen Pohjonen perform Daniel Bjarnason’s Concerto for Piano Processions with the Helsinki Philharmonic and the composer on the podium, having previously performed it with Tapiola Sinfonietta.

Juho Pohjonen, piano.******************* LATER. It is now a little after 2p.m. We had our little picnic lunch outside - granola bars with peanut butter and cheese and crackers. Now we are back inside the hall, listening to another Beethoven Piano Trio, this one Opus 70, No. 2. The program notes read: Beethoven’s E-flat Trio is one of the most lovable, as well as one of the most subtle, of all of his chamber works, with a mellow, intimate tone that recalls the contemporary A Major Cello Sonata, Op. 69. The first performance of the piece took place in Vienna at the home of Countess Marie Erdödy. The intimate setting of the work’s premiere and its dedication to the Countess herself may account for the gentle character of its four movements. Notable in its formal layout is the lack of a deeply emotional slow movement, the inner core of the work being comprised instead of two allegrettos. With its square symmetrical phrasing and decorative piano textures, the compositional style of this trio is distinctly ‘retro’, looking back to the period of Mozart and Haydn, with the formal procedures of Haydn, in particular, being an important point of reference. This is the 18th summer that the E-flat Trio has been heard at Marlboro. It was first performed here in 1954, by Rudolf Serkin, Felix Galimir, and Hermann Busch, and most recently in 2023 by Evren Ozel, Isabelle Durrenberger, and Peter Stumpf. Participants: Solomon Ge, piano; Leonard Fu, violin; Alice Neary, cello

Leonard, Solomon and Alice..****************** All three of these musicians have played earlier this summer. I liked the Opus 1, No.2 that we heard this morning, but this Trio has a special quality - the program notes use the word "gentle," and that is appropriate; one might also say "mellow," but one might also say "content." "Contentment" is not a quality we usually associate with the music of Beethoven. "Anguish" is more common. In this Trio there is no anguish, at least not yet. Well, as I listen, now and then, a bit of "longing" peeps through. Anyway, it is lovely to listen to.*************** I am remembering a time I went to a concert in the Brattleboro Music Center's Chamber Music Series. The artist was a pianist, performing a solo piano piece by Beethoven. I don't remember the name of the artist or the name of the piece of music, but it was heartbreaking. I could see Blanche Moyse clearly from where I was sitting, and she had covered her face with her hands and was silently weeping. As I recall, her father-in-law, Marcel Moyse, had recently died. THat is a more commmon experience of Beethoven's music.