"There is this exuberant, flourishing and at the same time silver-tongued sound, there is this enormous homogeneity of the musical action, there is this stupendous virtuosity of all participants, which is always based on sustainable mental work."
Rondo-Magazin, 02.10.2009
The Trio Jean Paul, founded in 1991, is one of today’s most distinguished chamber music ensembles and a popular guest at the international concert venues.
Among the highlights of the latest seasons were concerts at concert house Vienna, at "Philharmonie" Berlin and "Palais des Beaux Arts" Brussels, at "Glocke" Bremen, "Wigmore Hall" London, "Tonhalle" Zurich and "Musikhalle" Hamburg as well as at the renowned Sociedad Filarmónica in Bilbao, at Gulbenkian Foundation Lisbon as well as at Liceo de Cámara in Madrid with two programmes featuring Haydn, Beethoven and contemporary composers. Concerts in Los Angeles, Vancouver, Quebec and Montreal marked their tour of the US and Canada in spring 2010.
After First Prizes at the international competitions in Osaka (1993), Melbourne (1995), and at the German Music Competition, an extensive concert career has developed which has led the ensemble on a regular basis to major musical centers such as New York, London, Berlin, Paris, Amsterdam, and Brussels, as well as on tours to Australia, Japan, New Zealand, South-America, and the USA. Master classes and performances at international festivals (e. g. Schleswig- Holstein, Kissinger Sommer, Ludwigsburger Festspiele, Schubertiade Feldkirch, Rheingau Festival, Lucerne Festival, Kuhmo, Edinburgh Festival) as well as cooperation with musicians like Sharon Kam, Lars Anders Tomter and Vladimir Mendelssohn add to the multifarious artistic work of the Trio. In 2010/2011 concerts with clarinetist Paul Meyer are on the schedule.
By naming their ensemble after the author Jean Paul, the three musicians not only refer to their special affinity for the works of Robert Schumann, but also to the fundamental artistic idea of making the music’s speech-like and rhetorical elements to the point of departure for their interpretations. This approach draws a bow from the works of the Classical period, via the Romantic idea of “poetic music” to the music of today. An important area of the Trio’s work is therefore its occupation with the contemporary repertoire as numerous world premieres by famous composers such as Martin Christoph Redel, Kee Yong Chong, Michael Denhoff, Gordon Kerry, Volker David Kirchner und Albrecht Gürsching show.
The CD with Brahms’ Trio B major (version 1854) and Schönberg’s “Verklärte Nacht” (adaptation for piano trio by Eduard Steuermann 1931/32), published in 2005, has been honoured with the “Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik”. Several of the trio's recordings were labeled 'referential' by Swiss radio DRS CD comparisons, among them their latest disc with Mendelssohn Trios 1 and 2 (CAvi-Music). The Mendelssohn CD was also honoured in November 2009 with the SuperSonic Award in Luxemburg.
