Fanfare Magazine reviews ‘Homage And Inspiration’

There is a historical trajectory here of Mozart’s “Kegelstatt” Trio inspiring Schumann, which in turn inspired Kurtág; then, in 2013, the Mozartfest Würzburg commissioned Christof Johannes Weiß to write a piece inspired by the Mozart “Kegelstatt.” This web of connections forms the rationale for the present program, although the connections are rightly not presented in chronological order: The Schumann is paired with the Kurtág, and then the Mozart then leads to the Weiß.

The spirit of chamber music is writ large in the Iris Trio’s performance of Schumann’s beautiful and brilliant Märchenerzählunen, perhaps most so in the stunning crepuscular stillness of the third movement. This wonderful performance is contained within a stunning recording, having just the right amount of warmth and yet allowing for utter clarity. The players seem completely at one with Schumann’s expressive world. Molly Carr’s viola is every inch the equal to her colleagues in strength, enabling true conversations across the scoring. [ … ]

As a blend of classic and contemporary, this release is at once unusual, intriguing, and satisfying. The talented members of the Iris Trio—clarinetist Christine Carter, violist Molly Carr, and pianist Anna Petrova—met as music students in New York City and gave their first public performance together in 2013. The most well-known composition for this instrumentation is Mozart’s “Kegelstatt” Trio, for which Mozart intended to play the viola part. Clarinetists are quite familiar with Schumann’s dreamy fairy-tale fantasy, Märchenerzählungen. The Iris Trio gives compelling, lovely readings of both works. To make a complete program, the two contemporary pieces by György Kurtág and Christof Johannes Weiß were composed in homage to the Mozart and Schumann trios. Besides sounding like a neat package tied with a ribbon, this merging of styles works quite well musically, and the ensemble has toured with it to very positive response. [ … ]