Verena Stourzh

Florian Berner

Clemens Zeilinger

Duisburger Philharmoniker

The name says it all: “VanBeethoven” stands for independence of thought, for the revolutionary, for something that transcends its time, say the three ensemble members. And that also applies to the “Ladies First” program, in which the TrioVanBeethoven is devoted primarily to outstanding female figures in the music of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Fanny Hensel, for example, who faced the resentment of her time with an irrepressible will to create and artistic strength. As a child, she and her younger brother Felix were taught to compose by the best teachers and made a name for themselves as an excellent pianist. When she was 14, however, her father made it clear that her future role would be that of a wife and mother. Despite this resistance, she composed more than 460 works, including the Piano Trio op. 11, which can easily compete with her brother's famous trio. The path of London-born Rebecca Clarke, who became the first woman to enter the composition class at the Royal College of Music in 1907, was similarly rocky. The emotionally charged and expressive piano trio is among the best that British chamber music had to offer at the time.
