Don't be scared, don't bring your animals inside...
These three young wolves don't bite. They play music that gives their name "Lupus Trio Salzburg" (Latin for 'wolf') meaning: compositions by Joseph Woelfl. This contemporary of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven was born in Salzburg, which is also their biotope. The concert took place as part of the 250th anniversary of Joseph Woelfl and could be organized thanks to collaboration with the International Joseph Woelfl Society (IJWG).
Pianist Johann Zhao, violist Eduard Steude and cellist Kilian Erhart kicked off the Amazing Haydn cycle on Sunday. They came on stage at the Mechelen Conservatory as total unknowns, but did not leave unloved.
These young twenty-somethings put an original stamp on well-known and unknown work. From Joseph Haydn's much-known "Gypsy Trio", the second movement was particularly delightful. I have never heard this "Poco Adagio. Cantabile" so slowly, so singingly. The contrast with the Rondo "in Hungarian style" could not be greater. Schubert's first Piano Trio was a perfect fit for cellist Kilian Erhart. The joy of playing radiated from him. From the other two, seriousness and drive.
Two compositions by Woelfl were central. The most attractive was a "Grand Trio". Why such a jewel has been buried by time remains, as with much valuable music otherwise, a mystery. It had everything it needed to get the audience's hands together and command a standing ovation. It begins with a musical phrase that you can't get out of your head, a real earworm. The virtuosic piano part proves that Woelfl, who with his exceptionally large pianist's hands dared an undecided musical duel with Beethoven, was a worthy precursor to Chopin and Liszt.
Woelfl was one of the most successful composers of his time. During his stay in Vienna, he performed together with Beethoven, but also pursued a European career that, on Mozart's advice, began in Warsaw and took him via Paris to London, where he became one of the best-earning composers in the world. It is difficult to understand that this great musician is almost forgotten.
In short, a happy audience is prepared to discover another completely unknown Bruges composer on October 8. Then Vlad Weverbergh couples symphonies by Hébert Leemans (1741-1771) with work by Haydn and Mozart with his Terra Nova Collective.
More information can be found on the website of Amazing Haydn.