The Altenberg Trio Wien is named after Peter Altenberg, an Austrian writer and poet, symbolizing love of beauty, adventure, stylistic precision, and subtle humor.
Compositional Technique
Haydn's piano trios often feature the violin and cello doubling the piano parts, creating an improvisational atmosphere that he rarely achieved in his piano sonatas.
Instruments
Christoph Stradner, the cellist of the Altenberg Trio Wien, plays a violoncello made by Antonio Stradivari in Cremona in 1680.
Composer Biography
Haydn dedicated three trios and his last three piano sonatas to Therese Jansen, a German pianist he met in London, and was even best man at her wedding.
Composer Biography
Haydn's marriage to Maria Anna Keller in 1760 was a disaster, and as divorce was not permitted in the Catholic Church, he remained married despite a long-term relationship with singer Luigia Polzelli.
Historical Context
At the end of the 18th century, the piano was a very popular instrument in bourgeois and aristocratic circles in Paris, London, and Vienna.
Critical Reception
The American pianist and musicologist Charles Rosen wrote in his 1971 book 'The Classical Style' that Joseph Haydn's late piano trios were among the most brilliant piano works before Beethoven.
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Mozart, W.A.: Piano Trios, Vol. 1 (Kungsbacka Trio)
