The Wits Trio in Concert

In celebration of Mother’s Day, we are delighted to present one of South Africa’s premier chamber music ensembles – The Wits Trio – in concert at Northwards House on Sunday, May 12th at 3PM. They will be performing piano trios by Mozart, the little-known Armenian composer Arno Babajanian, and Brahms.

The Wits Trio was established after their inaugural concert in Johannesburg in 2012, and they have been appearing nationwide in recitals and at music festivals ever since. The individual members are all well-known musicians in their own right, frequently performing as soloist with symphony orchestras as well as in recitals. Violinist Zanta Hofmeyr graduated from the Juilliard School of Music in New York. After her New York debut in Carnegie Recital Hall (now Weill Recital Hall), she returned to South Africa in 1985. She has served on the teaching faculty of NWU, UP, as well as Wits.

Cellist Susan Mouton has served as principal cellist of both the National Symphony Orchestra as well as the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra. She concluded her studies at UP and Wits, also having attended master classes with renowned cellists in Europe.

Pianist Malcolm Nay is widely regarded as one of South Africa’s finest chamber musicians. He completed his studies with Pauline Nossel at Wits, as well as with Béla Síki at the Universities of Cincinatti and Washington in the USA.

Mozart composed his Piano Trio, K542 over the summer of 1788. It is his only work in the main key of E major, one which is inherently expressive due to its unequal temperament. Mozart achieved great beauty by using this key elsewhere in his operas: consider the trio “Soave sia il vento” from Cosí fan tutte, or the aria “In diesen heil’gen Hallen” from Die Zauberflöte. Composed in three movements, the piano trio is a work of great beauty and subtlety, filled with endless harmonic surprises. It was believed to be a favourite work of Chopin, one that he performed frequently.

Babajanian’s Piano Trio in F sharp minor (1952) is considered to be one of his most important and successful works. Although his musical style is rooted in Armenian folk music, he was greatly influenced by the virtuosic style of Rachmaninoff, Khachaturian and Prokofiev. It is filled with beautifully idiomatic writing for all three instruments. The dramatic opening of the first movement is contrasted by the ethereally beautiful second movement with the strings playing the main theme in their high registers. The finale is a very effective folk dance in which an energetic opening theme is opposed by a lyrical folk song, with a constantly shifting underlying time signature.

Brahms completed his Piano Trio in C, Op 87 in 1882. In recent years, he had developed a more concise style in which material is worked out with greater economy. Indeed, much of the trio’s character is revealed in its opening bars, in which the strings state the broad opening theme without the piano. The piano’s entrance seems to be one that accompanies the strings or simply goes its own way. Indeed, all four movements begin with the violin and cello playing together in octaves, as if to signal their unity. The second movement is influenced by Brahms’ interest in Hungarian music, whilst a jittery Mendelssohnian scherzo leads to a finale that is overflowing with joy and good cheer.

We cannot wait to welcome you at Northwards House on Sunday, May 12th, at 3 PM for an afternoon of exquisite beauty in the company world’s most beautiful music.

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