We welcome back The Mithras Trio who last played for us in 2023; however since then, Ionel Manciu and Leo Popplewell have left the Trio to focus on their careers as full-time orchestral musicians. Joining pianist Dominic Degavino will be Thomas Mathias and Ben Tarlton as the new string players.

They play two major works of the Romantic trio repertoire but begin with Red Kite by the Reading- and Bedfordshire-based composer David Breeze. This piece which evokes the bird’s swooping flight was originally conceived for solo piano and David has since created versions for violin and piano, for orchestra and for piano trio. 

Smetana’s G minor Piano Trio was inspired by the death of his young daughter in 1855, the distraught composer turning to creative work to numb his grief. This emotional piece became one of his first works to become established in the piano trio repertoire.

The Trio Op. 8 by Brahms was also written at a highly emotional period of the composer’s life, around the time of his mentor Schumann’s suicide attempt. Brahms was not satisfied with the Trio and some thirty years later completely rewrote it.