The Linos Piano Trio has unveiled five dynamic new programmes, now available for booking.

Known for their unwavering commitment to expanding the repertoire for piano trio, Linos have established themselves as pioneers in the genre, bringing their rich cultural and artistic backgrounds to the fore in their programming. Praised for their “slow-burning, gripping performance” by The Strad, and “virtuosity, presence of mind, and wit” by the Süddeutsche Zeitung, the trio consistently present programmes that challenge the boundaries of the piano trio, from world-premiere performances and recordings to their own arrangements of orchestral masterpieces.

These enduring characteristics of their work run throughout their new programmes, each of which takes a theme and explores it through the trio’s distinctive lens. Schubert’s centenary is celebrated in a programme which includes the trio’s arrangements of Erlkönig and the Fantasy in F minor, D. 940 as well as the composer’s Piano Trio no. 2 in E flat major, op. 100, D. 929. These works are interspersed with the trio’s arrangement of Swedish folk song Se Solen Sjunker and Miles Walter’s The Utopia is Elsewhere. 

Serenade and Songs showcases the trio’s arrangements of works by Elgar, Schubert, Byrd and Purcell, placing them alongside Bridge’s Piano Trio no. 2. The latter also appears in their programme Elegy and Utopia, where it appears in dialogue with works by Beethoven (the Piano Trio in E flat major, op. 70, no. 2 and the trio’s arrangement of the variations from the Eroica Symphony) and Walter’s The Utopia is Elsewhere.

In Nightscape, the trio brings together works that evoke the darkest hours. Their arrangement of Schubert’s Erlkönig is followed by Beethoven’s Piano Trio in D Major, op. 70, no. 1, Ghost, and Justina Repeckaite’s Echo Chamber, closing with Eduard Steuermann’s arrangement of Schönberg’s Verklärte Nacht. 

In Fairest Isle, the trio invites the audience to consider Britain’s complex relationship with cultural internationalism. Opening with Haydn’s Piano Trio no. 43 in C major, Hob XV:27, written during the time of the composer’s encounter with English pianos, the programme continues with the trio’s arrangement of Elgar’s Serenade for Strings, now a perennial favourite of concert programmes yet considered “unsaleable” by its contemporary British publishers. The second half of the programme places a set of Linos’ arrangements of songs by Byrd and Purcell alongside Bridge’s Piano Trio no. 2, commissioned by American philanthropist Elizabeth Coolidge and deemed too modernist for the British public at the time of its writing, but now regarded as a powerful addition to the 20th century piano trio repertoire.

To view the Linos Piano Trio’s complete portfolio of programmes, please click here.