THE TRIO
« (…) they brilliantly interpreted the melodious works of Ignace Pleyel, Ludwig van Beethoven and Hyacinthe Jadin »
La Montagne
"Chance encounters"...
From a café at a convent, to concerts in Malta, carpooling trips, or evening outings at the bar... These are the simple beginnings of the Trio Guersan !
These three musicians (Mathieu Schmaltz, Aurélie Métivier, Jean-Baptiste Valfré), laureates of the CNSMD in Lyon, met through their mutual passion for historically informed performance on period instruments.
Having all three known the hallways of the Abbaye aux Dames in Saintes, where their strong friendship grew, they became attracted to the idea of playing string trios together.
The string trio, which lives in the shadow of its illustrious big brother the string quartet, has a surprisingly rich repertoire that is much too often forgotten.
Advocating classical and romantic works, the Trio Guersan offers interpretations with an in-depth understanding of their historical context.
Their name comes from the famous violin-maker Louis Guersan, head of the "Vieux Paris" school, created in the XVIIIth century. They thus wish to pay their respects to these enlightenment artists...
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As the string trio became established by the end of the 18th century, their research is primarily focussed on the great romantic era (end of the 18th century-19th century). The quality of works by Beethoven, Mozart Schubert, as well as Jadin, Boëly, Pleyel (to name but a few)... largely merits this interest !
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The way they choose to play this repertoire is the result of their reading and writings about interpretation. By studying the major treaties (Baillot, Spohr, Hummel, Léopold Mozart…) and by using instruments and techniques that are adapted to the period, they have given much thought to 19th century style bowings, the use of portamento, vibrato and rubato... as well as other musical elements which served as means of expression to musicians of the time.
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Translated by Gemma Piat