Matthias Balzat (cello), Wilma Smith (violin), Laurence Matheson (piano)

The programme opens with one of Beethoven’s earliest chamber works, written when he first moved to Vienna hoping to make an impression on the city’s musical elite.

The trio by Smetana was written for a very different reason. Following the death of his infant daughter in 1855, Smetana immediately began writing this piano trio, dedicating it “in memory of our eldest child Bedřiška, whose rare musical talent gave us such delight”. There is no mistaking the serious mood of this work. All three movements are in G minor, and even the major sections do little to change the sombre mood.

In contrast, Dvorak’s “Dumky” Trio has a constant mix of emotions in its six movements. “Dumka” means “a fleeting thought” and the music constantly fluctuates between brooding melancholy and sharply contrasting interludes of lively dance-like exuberance.