Grand Piano Trios—Beethoven’s “Ghost” and “Archduke”

A virtual symphony for three musicians, expansive and noble—like the Austrian Archduke who was the dedicatee—the great “Archduke” is more than a trio. It offered Beethoven the perfect vehicle for the development of his compositional techniques and the exploration of instrumental brilliance and virtuosity with three independent, powerful voices. In the “Ghost” Trio, conjuring up images from Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Beethoven plays with strangeness and eeriness. Ieva Jokubaviciute, piano; Hye-Jin Kim, violin; Yehuda Hanani, cello