There was not a dry eye in the house as the Beaux Arts Trio played their final note.
The world-renown Beaux Arts Trio bid farewell to a full house at the Musical Arts Center Saturday night with their final Bloomington performance. The concert was part of an international tour that will mark the conclusion of the group’s 53-year history as the world’s “gold standard” for piano trios, according to an April 8 New York Times article .
IU Distinguished Professor, pianist and founding member of the trio, Menahem Pressler, violinist Daniel Hope and cellist Antonio Meneses performed five pieces during the course of the evening, earning standing ovations and applause from the audience throughout the performance.
“I have seen the Beaux Arts Trio Perform several times, but tonight especially really touched me,” said Gina Choe, a second-year Masters student at the Jacobs School of Music. “The second movement of the Schubert piece almost brought me to tears.”
The opening piece, Beethoven’s “Trio in B-Flat Major, Op. 97” showcased the dexterity and virtuosity audiences have come to expect from the Beaux Arts Trio.
“Piece for Trio” followed, written specifically for the Beaux Arts Trio by Hungarian composer Györg Kurtág. In his introduction, Pressler praised Kurtág as a very special composer whose “name deserves to be familiar.” The trio played the delicate and emotive piece twice. Pressler told the audience, “each time it will be a new experience.” Franz Schubert’s “Trio No. 2 in E-flat Major, D.929” closed the program.
Thunderous applause prompted the group to perform two encore pieces, by Hayden and Dvorak.
After the second encore, a shower of silver and gold confetti fell onto the stage as the Trio took their final bows.
As the confetti fell Pressler took the microphone to bid a final farewell to the Bloomington audience.
“None of us would like to say goodbye right now,” Pressler said. “There is nothing more sweet than your applause because it symbolizes something about us and it says something about Bloomington, because the Beaux Arts Trio and Bloomington are one in a sense ... we grew with the School of Music, which is one of the best in the world. We thank you, we thank the school of music, and we are very thrilled to have played for you tonight.”
Although the Beaux Arts Trio’s membership has included several distinguished musicians since its inception in 1955, many hold the current Trio in the highest regard, according to an IU press release.
“In some ways, it’s a painful time to close this chapter,” said Pressler. “However, it’s also a gift that we can go out at the ‘top of our game.’”
