A rare trio formation is a delightful family affair
The Strad Issue: June 2026
Description: A rare trio formation is a delightful family affair
Musicians: Karni Trio
Works: Brahms: Trio in E flat major op.40. Jongen: Trio op.30. Mozart: Trio in E flat major K498 ‘Kegelstatt’
Catalogue number: KARNI CLASSICS KC26001
TRIBUTE
Violist Gilad Karni, spiritus rector behind this album, explains in a heartfelt note that it was conceived as a tribute to his mentor, the late Chaim Taub, who was for well over half a century a leading light of Israel’s musical life. With Gilad’s wife (violinist Eugenia Klarni) and mother-in-law (pianist Nina Ardashir) on board, the Karni Trio is a family affair that shows it in perfect accord throughout its ambitious programme. Mozart’s ‘Kegelstatt’ Trio, seldom heard in its alternative violin version, features varied agogics, beautiful shaping of the extended semiquaver runs and some nicely gauged trills.
More than the Mozart, Brahms’s Horn Trio becomes quite a different beast when played on two stringed instruments, albeit one that is not one iota less lovely. On the contrary, the numerous passages in 3rds and 6ths acquire an even more cooing character, and the Karni’s blended sonorities sometimes make it hard to tell which instrument is playing the top line. In these players’ hands, the Adagio mesto is a thing of the utmost beauty.
Joseph Jongen wrote his trio specifically for this instrumental combination, and he achieves an almost orchestral grandeur. Violin and viola are locked in octaves for long passages, holding their own against a piano in full flight. The three thematically related movements – Prelude, Variations and Finale – inhabit an intoxicating fin de siècle atmosphere, sensually savoured by the Karni Trio and further aided by the resonant acoustic.
CARLOS MARÍA SOLARE
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