"Sitkovetsky Trio presents first-class Mendelssohn" The contemporary German composer Wolfgang Rihm once called the standard formation of the piano trio - violin, cello and piano - decayed. "But", he added, "just as in abandoned buildings secret things can happen." It wasn't secrecy Felix Mendelssohn 1840 was after in his First and Second Piano Trio. It was excitement. Just take all those light-footed scherzo's on which Mendelssohn has a patent. Such whirring can be quite a challenge for any piano trio.
The Sitkovetsky Trio not only keeps these scherzo's transparent. Secret weapon of the in the UK based piano trio is called Wu Qian. Under the hands of this Chinese pianist the Steinway turns into an X-ray device that displays each and every grain. Together with the German cellist Leonard Elschenbroich and British violinist Alexander Sitkovetsky - descendent of the famous Russian musicians dynasty - Wu presents a first-class Mendelssohn.

VOLKSKRANT Guido van Oorschot / August 19, 2015
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