Trio LALIQUE
Beethoven,
Shostakovich, Smetana
Saturday 17th May 2025, 7.30pm, St. Botolph’s Church, Trunch
Concert dedicated to Roy Abrams (1929 – 2019)
Described as ‘superb’ and ‘sensational’, the Trio Lalique was founded in 2022 by pianist Ilya Kondratiev, violinist Yuri Kalnits and cellist Julia Morneweg. Ilya is the prize-winner of several renowned international music competitions, including Franz Liszt Budapest 2011, Franz Liszt Weimar 2011, the Fifth Tbilisi 2013, Brant Birmingham 2015 and Chappell Gold Medal in 2016. Yuri and Julia are renowned chamber musician in their own right, recipient of many awards. Trio Lalique debut in the prestigious Pharos Arts Foundation series in Nicosia (Cyprus) in 2022 was praised for its virtuosity and musical artistry alike.
Between them, they have performed as soloists and chamber musicians at many of the world’s greatest concert halls including London’s Southbank Centre, King’s Place, Zurich Tonhalle, Munich’s Gasteig, Suntory Hall and the Great Hall of Moscow Conservatoire as well as at major festivals.
PROGRAMME:
Beethoven (1770 – 1827) – Piano Trio in E flat Major Op. 1 No. 1
Shostakovich’ Piano Trio No. 1 (originally titled Poème) was composed in 1923 when the composer was sixteen and had been in the Leningrad Conservatory for three years. The Trio, however, was not published during Shostakovich’s lifetime, and it was discovered only in the 1980s. In 1924, to supplement the family’s meagre income, Shostakovich had taken a job as a cinema pianist accompanying silent films. According to his sister Zoya, at the cinema Shostakovich and two friends rehearsed the Piano Trio for a performance, as accompaniment to the film that was playing that day. There is something almost cinematic about this early Trio, with its sharp contrasts of pace and mood that can easily conjure up images like an Eisenstein film (though Eistenstein’s first masterpiece, Battleship Potemkin, did not appear until 1925).
Violinist Yuri Kalnits
A recipient of two prestigious Diapason d’Or awards for his recording of Weinberg’s Violin Sonatas Yuri Kalnits was described by reviewers as ‘an interpreter of the highest order’. He has participated in festivals throughout the world such as Festival Musicales Internationales Guil-Durance (France), Young Artist Peninsula Music Festival (USA), Festival Cziffra (France), Waterford International Music Festival (Ireland), Pharos Trust Festival (Cyprus), Festival “Musica da Camera” (Germany), Festival International Ciudad de Ubeda (Spain), Beyond the music Festival (Spain), Loch Shiel Spring Festival (Scotland), Ljubljana International Festival and has played at many important venues including The Purcell Room, Kings Place, St. John’s Smith Square, Barbican, St. Martin-in the-Fields, Small Hall of Moscow Conservatoire, Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center and Suntory Hall. Tours have taken him to Russia, Ireland, Germany, Israel, France, Switzerland, Spain, Greece, USA, Hong Kong and Cyprus.
Cellist Julia Morneweg
London-based cellist Julia Morneweg enjoys an exciting career as a soloist, chamber musician and artistic curator that regularly sees her perform at prestigious venues and alongside distinguished artists.
The recipient of an EMI Music Foundation Award, she made her London concerto debut in 2006 performing the Elgar Concerto at St John’s Smith Square which immediately led to further engagements including a performance of Haydn’s C major Concerto with the International Mahler Orchestra at the same venue and Elgar with the Ternopol Philharmonic Orchestra in Ukraine. Other concerto performances have included Lalo in London and Vivaldi in Cologne. As a recitalist she has appeared around the UK, Belgium, Italy, Germany and at venues such as the Purcell Room, Oxford’s Holywell Music Rooms, Trieste Opera House, the National Gallery, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Charterhouse Festival and the Tacoma International Music Festival, USA.
Pianist Ilya Kondratiev
A critically acclaimed pianist, Ilya Kondratiev is the prize-winner of several renowned international music competitions, including Franz Liszt Budapest 2011, Franz Liszt Weimar 2011, the Fifth Tbilisi 2013, Brant Birmingham 2015 and Chappell Gold Medal in 2016. Born in Russia, he studied from the age of seven in Samara with the distinguished teacher Victoria Soifer and, from the age of 16, at the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory with the People’s Artist of Russia Zinaida Ignatieva. In 2014 he moved to London in order to further his studies at the Royal College of Music under Vanessa Latarche and Sofia Gulyak, graduating with a Master of Performance and an Artist Diploma. Ilya performs extensively as a soloist and chamber music player at venues such as the Great Hall of Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, Gasteig Munich, Weimarhalle, Palacio de Festivales de Santander, the Palace of Arts in Budapest and the Great Hall of the Tbilisi Conservatoire.
