Who's Afraid Of...? Boulanger Trio

• Elfrida Andrée (1841 - 1929): Trio No. 2 in G Minor:
• 1 Andrée: Trio No. 2 in G Minor: I. Allegro agitato  08:17
• 2 Andrée: Trio No. 2 in G Minor: II. Andante con Espressione  05:53
• 3 Andrée: Trio No. 2 in G Minor: III. Finale. Rondo. Allegro risoluto  07:08
• Maria Theresia Paradis (1759 - 1824): Erinnerung ans Schicksal:
• 4 Paradis: Erinnerung ans Schicksal 02:54
• Fanny Hensel (1805 - 1847): Trio in D Minor, Op. 11:
• 5 Hensel: Trio in D Minor, Op. 11: I. Allegro molto vivace  11:53
• 6 Hensel: Trio in D Minor, Op. 11: II. Andante espressivo  06:16
• 7 Hensel: Trio in D Minor, Op. 11: III. Lied: Allegretto  01:49
• 8 Hensel: Trio in D Minor, Op. 11: IV. Allegretto moderato  05:59
• Lera Auerbach (b. 1973): Postscriptum:
• 9 Auerbach: Postscriptum 05:47
• Kate Bush (b. 1958): Running Up that Hill:
• 10 Bush: Running Up That Hill 05:17
• Lili Boulanger (1893 - 1918): Clairières dans le ciel:
• 11 Boulanger: Clairières dans le ciel: No. 3, Parfois, je suis triste 03:32
• 12 Boulanger: Clairières dans le ciel: No. 9, Les lilas qui avaient fleuri 02:30
• 13 Boulanger: Clairières dans le ciel: No. 11, Par ce que j'ai souffert 02:39
• Vittoria Aleotti (1575 - 1620): Io v'amo vita mia:
• 14 Aleotti: Io v'amo vita mia  02:25
• Rosa Linn (b. 2000): Snap:
• 15 Linn: Snap 03:32
• Barbara Strozzi (1619 - 1677): Che si può fare?:
• 16 Strozzi: Che si può fare? 03:28
• Alicia Keys (b. 1981): Fallin':
• 17 Keys: Fallin' 03:54
• Barbara (b. 1930): Göttingen:
• 18 Barbara: Göttingen 03:08
• Total Runtime 01:26:21

Info for Who's Afraid Of...?

Nine impressive works by various female composers from a period of 450 years shed light on the different ways in which women were able to fulfil their potential in their respective times. The composer Elfrida Andrée (1841-1929), for example, worked as an organist at Gothenburg Cathedral, going against the social conventions of the time. To this day, she is the only woman in Sweden to have worked as an organist at a cathedral church. In contrast, Fanny Hensel (1805-1847) was unable to step out of the shadow of her brother Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy. The family had both siblings educated musically, but could only envisage a career for the son. This was despite the fact that the daughter was just as talented as her brother. She composed over 460 works and successfully performed countless concerts as a pianist and conductor. Surprisingly, however, there were women who were able to consistently pursue an artistic path long before Fanny Hensel and Elfrida Andrée. Vittoria Aleotti (1575- 1646), for example, was able to devote her entire life to music and even publish her own madrigals thanks to the support of her father. It is all the more astonishing that the works of composer Lili Boulanger only became known to the general public in the 1960s, although her sister, the important music teacher Nadia Boulanger, dedicated her entire life to music after her sister's early death.

The life and work of Maria Theresia Paradis (1759-1824), who, despite her blindness, undertook a major concert tour of Europe as a pianist and had her own music typewriter for composing, is also fascinating. Or the French chansonnière Barbara (1930-1997), who made a significant contribution to international understanding and reconciliation between France and Germany after the end of the Second World War with her song ‘Göttingen’. The Boulanger Trio found many interesting women whose music should be played and whose stories should be told. That's why two other female artists are represented on the digital album: Icon Kate Bush, who invented the headset almost incidentally because she needed more freedom of movement on stage. And the Armenian singer Rosa Linn, who set TikTok alight in 2022 when the video of her Eurovision Song Contest song ‘SNAP’ went viral.

Boulanger Trio

Boulanger Trio
The German newspaper Die Welt described a performance of the Boulanger Trio as “irresistible”, while Wolfgang Rihm wrote in a letter: “To be interpreted in this way is surely the great dream of every composer.”

Formed in Hamburg in 2006 by Karla Haltenwanger (piano), Birgit Erz (violin) and Ilona Kindt (cello), the trio is now based in Berlin. Already in 2007 the ensemble won the 4th Trondheim International Chamber Music Competition in Norway, followed by the Rauhe Prize for Modern Chamber Music in 2008. The ensemble has received crucial musical guidance from Hatto Beyerle, Menahem Pressler and Alfred Brendel.

In the past years, the trio has gained an excellent reputation in the world of chamber music, and it was invited to prestigious venues such as Konzerthaus Berlin, Festspielhaus Baden‐Baden, Palais des Beaux Arts Brussels, Wigmore Hall London and Philharmonie Berlin. The musicians also regularly appear at festivals like the Schleswig‐Holstein Musik Festival, the Heidelberger Frühling, the Dialoge at Mozarteum Salzburg, Ultraschall in Berlin and the Sommerliche Musiktage Hitzacker.

In addition to works of the classical and romantic period, the commitment to contemporary music is an important focus within the trio’s repertoire. The ensemble is collaborating with some of today’s foremost composers including Wolfgang Rihm, Johannes Maria Staud, Friedrich Cerha, Toshio Hosokawa and Matthias Pintscher. They also regularly appear with chamber music partners like Nils Mönkemeyer, viola and Sebastian Manz, clarinet. In 2011, the trio started its own concert series, the Boulangerie, in Hamburg and Berlin. At every one of these concerts, a classical composition is performed alongside a piece of contemporary music. The composer of the contemporary work is always present at the concert and talks with the three musicians about his or her oeuvre.

The range of the Boulanger Trio’s wide repertoire has been documented on five CDs: their latest recording of works by Ludwig van Beethoven was released in July 2014 on Hänssler Profil and has already won Pizzicato magazine’sSupersonic Award. It features alongside the Trios in G major Op. 121a, “Kakadu Variations” and B-flat major Op. 97 “Erzherzog”, the Trio Movement in B-flat major WOO 39. Also released on Hänssler Profil were the 2012 CD with compositions by Dmitri Shostakovich and Peteris Vasks, which was also awarded a Supersonic, and the 2011 recording of works by Johannes Brahms, Franz Liszt and Arnold Schoenberg, which won the Excellentia Award in Luxembourg. Two earlier recordings featuring works by Robert and Clara Schumann, Camille Saint‐Saëns, Gabriel Fauré, Wolfgang Rihm and the German first recording of Lili Boulanger’s works appeared on the label ARS Produktion.

The ensemble is named after the sisters Nadia and Lili Boulanger, whose exceptional personalities and uncompromising devotion to music continue to be a great source of inspiration to the trio.

This album contains no booklet.