Phaeton Piano Trio

With Friedemann Eichhorn, Peter Hörr and Florian Uhlig, the Phaeton Piano Trio unites three top German artists of international standing to create one of the most exciting piano trios on the international concert scene. As soloists, they have been successfully at home on major stages in Europe, overseas and Asia for more than twenty years, and the artists perform as a piano trio in important music capitals in Europe and the USA. They return to our series during their only U.S. tour of the 2025-2026 season.

“Not by chance did the trio name itself after the son of the Greek Sun God Helios. Phaeton, the shining one, drove his father’s sun chariot harnessed with four fiery steeds across the sky during the day, returning at night to the sea. As demanding the name is, so fantastic is the ensemble.” ——IPF-UND JAGD ZEITUNG

The Phaeton Piano Trio with Friedmenn Eichhorn, violin; Peter Hörr, cello; and Florian Uhlig, piano —three German artists with an international career as chamber musicians and soloists—is based in Weimar, Germany. As soloists, the artists have been successfully touring the major stages throughout Europe, in Asia and North and South America for more than twenty years.

Since joining forces in 2017, the trio has been invited to concertize throughout Germany, in the Netherlands, France, Switzerland, Italy, Turkey, in South America and China. Among recent European engagements are performances at the Mozartfest Wuerzburg, Strauss Tage Garmisch, the SWR with a Saint Saens recording project, the Deutschlandfunk Cologne. On its first tour to North America in February of 2020, the trio made its most successful U.S. debut at the Library of Congress, where Friedemann Eichhorn was given the honor of playing from its collectio – the Library’s Kreisler Guarneri del Gesu. The trio has since, among others, appeared to great acclaim tat the Frick Collection in NYC, in Princeton; Melbourne, Fl; Cleveland, San Jose, CA and the University of Connecticut, in Calgary and at the Ottawa Music and Beyond Festival where it appeared in three successive summers between 2023 and 2025. On its November 2025 tour, the trio will appear in Maine, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Ohio and California.

Friedmann Eichhorn has performed as chamber music partner of G. Kremer, Yuri Basement, B. Pergamenschikov and many others. In addition to his extensive recording for Hänssler Classic and Naxos, he is Professor of Violin at the Weimar Hochschule für Musik “Franz Liszt” and Artistic Director of the renowned Kornberg Academy. Recent activities include a performance of Fazil Say’s violin concerto with the Orchestra di Santa Cecilia di Roma at the Spoleto Festival, a premiere performance of Say’s Violin Sonata No. 2 at the Istanbul Festival and his debuts with the Konzerthaus Orchestra Berlin and the Hong Kong Philharmonic under Eschenbach.

Peter Hörr, a sought after chamber music partner, especially as founding member of the Mozart Piano Quartet, an ensemble that performs worldwide with a recording catalogue for the MDG label. He was awarded the ECHO Classic Prize for his recording of the Duport Cello Concerti and has been Artistic Director of the Hofkapelle Weimar since 2010. In 2020/2021, with the support of the Deutschlandfunk and the Klassik Stiftung Weimar he released a recording of the complete works for cello and piano by Beethoven with pianist Liese Klahn. Peter Hörr is Professor of Cello at the Leipzig Hochschule für Musik and Theater “Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy.”

Florian Uhlig, honorary member of the London Royal Academy of Music, made his orchestral debut at the London Barbican and has appeared at leading concert halls across the world, performing with renowned orchestras and conductors. The Hänssler Classic label has released around 30 of his CD recordings, including the complete Schumann and Ravel piano solo works. Florian was awarded the 2021 Annual German Record Reviewers Prize, the 2022 Oopus Klassik Award, and the 2023 City of Zwickau Prize for his 19 recordings of the entire Schumann Oeuvre for piano. He is also Artistic Director of the Johannesburg International Mozart Festival and Professor of Piano at the Musikhochschule Luebeck.

PROGRAM
Joseph Haydn, Piano Trio in G Major, Hob: XV:25, (1732-1809) “Gypsy”
Andante
Poco Adagio
Rondo all’Ongarese: Presto

Felix Mendelssohn, Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor, op. 49
(1809-1847)
Molto allegro e agitato
Andante con moto tranquillo
Scherzo: Leggiero e vivace
Finale: Allegro assai appassionato

Intermission

Camille Saint-Saens, Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor
(1835-1921)
Allegro non troppo
Allegretto
Andante con moto
Grazioso, poco allegro
Allegro

Joseph Haydn ,Piano Trio in G Major, Hob: XV:25
Haydn made two eventful trips to London, the first in 1791 and again in 1794. It was during the second of these trips that Haydn composed several piano trios, including the one we will hear this evening. He wrote it during the final weeks of his visit and it was immediately successful.

The first movement is a theme and variation with the thematic material carried by violin and piano. As you will hear, the cello is mainly in a subordinate role, which would be somewhat reminiscent of its function in the previous baroque period. On the other hand, the piano and violin are prominently featured and often share similar material.

The ABA second movement, poco adagio, begins with the piano presenting the principal theme of the A section. The central B section features a lovely melody in the violin. Slow, lyrical, and reflective, this movement provides a soothing contrast to the outer movements, especially to the excitement which soon follows. In the final A, piano and violin share melodic responsibilities, while the cello again primarily provides harmonic support.
The final movement is one of Haydn’s best known, an energetic Presto Rondo all’Ongarese (Rondo in the Gypsy style). It is a style that would have been familiar to him, since he spent most of his career with the Esterházy family in the centre of Hungarian territory. In fact, Haydn himself labeled movement “in the gypsy style.”

Nothing is more “fun” for an instrumentalist than to have the opportunity play as many notes as you can, just as fast as you can, for as long as you can.. And nothing can be more “fun”for a listener than to hear such a piece being played. Rest assured, both performers and listeners will be thrilled by the mad dash of this final movement!

Felix Mendelssohn, Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor

Schumann called Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio in D Minor, written in the summer of 1839, “the master trio of our age” and added, “he has raised himself so high that we can indeed say he is the Mozart of the 19th century.” Interestingly, Mendelssohn’s friend, pianist Ferdinand Hiller, considered the piano part “too old-fashioned” and urged him to make it more virtuosic, more modern – like Chopin and Liszt. Initially reluctant to do so, eventually Mendelssohn did in fact make significant changes in the first movement, making it more dazzling and, thus, more “Romantic.”

Exhibiting remarkable classical form, the trio presents the unfolding of extraordinary melodies and exhibits brilliant piano writing. Furthermore, freed from its subservient role, the cello now occupies a voice equal to that of the piano and violin. In fact, two lyrical themes open the sonata-form first movement, each introduced by the cello. The cello and violin trade and develop these two major themes, while the piano weaves exciting, active rhythmic lines above, below and throughout, which propel the music forward and provides the desired “Romantic” excitement – perhaps the very result Hiller was hoping for.

In a dramatic change of mood, the second movement features a beautiful Mendelssohn “Song without Words.” A middle section in minor provides ample contrast before returning to the opening theme.

The third movement, an exuberant Scherzo, provides yet another different musical setting, a perpetual motion romp, both fun and exciting. Finally, as noted by Mendelssohn biographer R. Larry Todd, the last movement summarizes the entire composition, incorporating “the agitated brooding of the first, subdued introspection of the second and playful frivolity of the third . . . before reconciling them in the celebratory D-major ending.”

Camille Saint-Saens, Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor

Every review and/or comment I read concerning this first movement referred to the opening theme as “ominous” and/or “turbulent.” Far be it from me to disagree – I doubt if you will either. Those terms aptly describe the sweeping, rising and falling of the piano chords, arpeggios and rapid scale figures that accompany the dramatic flow between violin and cello. This opening intensity is resolved by the more lyrical and reassuring second theme that follows. But always the original agitated turbulence returns to establish the overall character of the movement.

The second movement Allegretto, is a delightful example of Saint-Saëns’ compositional style. In the then quite unusual 5/8 meter, this movement provides contrast between snippets of major/minor; slow/fast; and by constantly passing material from one voice to another. One reviewer referred to this as jazz musicians “trading fours.” Paul Desmond and Dave Brubeck would love it!

The central third movement is the shortest and exhibits both lyrical and romantic qualities. It begins with a simple piano theme before blossoming into rich dialogue between the strings, which builds to considerable emotional height.

Following the emotional depth of the previous movement, this is a light and graceful, waltz-like scherzo interlude that begins in a more relaxed, poised and delicate manner.

Decidedly more light and than the previous movement, all three instruments share equally in both the melodic motives and the accompanying figures which get playfully tossed from one voice to another. This character helps set up the gravitas of the final movement which follows.

The finale is powerful and stately, starting with a sinister and somber theme. With this finale, Saint-Saëns provides a complementary bookend to the dark complexity of the first movement. It develops into a magnificent fugue, a real tour de force. Shared equally by all three instruments, it propels us forward to a grande and rousing conclusion.

Donations are always welcome. For further information email us at info@rrcms.org, or follow RRCMS on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Watch this concert live.