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"Three strong voices, locked in sequence."
The New York Times
"Violinist Mark Kaplan and cellist Clancy Newman made a fine team, twining and
dovetailing their lines to eloquent effect, not least in Schubert’s expansively
lyrical writing. Underpinning the strings was pianist Yael Weiss’s liquid tone
and unfailingly wise phrasing"
Washington Post
“an immensely accomplished ensemble…. This is almost certainly how Brahms wanted
and expected his music to be played…”
International Record Review
“…performances were splendid and idiomatic…” Washington Post
”All three performers were able to project a strong musical
personality while nurturing a fine ensemble sound.”
Classical Sonoma
”Newman’s magnificently resonant cello, Kaplan’s soaring violin at its sweetest,
and Weiss’ piano in gently rhapsodic mode gave the music a special bloom,
exquisite, ardent, and fresh.”
Herald-Times
"Great ensemble playing"
The Washington Post
"a class act!"
Deseret News
"A beguiling, energetic new chapter"
New York Sun
"Dynamic new ensemble"
Chamber Music Magazine
"Then there was [the trio] itself. When it played Beethoven's overexposed
"Archduke" Trio, every moment felt new. How often does that happen?
Philadelphia Inquirer
"The dovetailing of give-and-take among the members...was seamless, and their
playing swept up the listener....This performance was delightful in every
respect.... With ethereal pianissimos, lockstep ensemble, and heart-felt
phrasing, [the trio] gave one of the most completely convincing interpretations
of this sprawling jewel [Schubert Piano Trio No. 2 in E-flat] that I have
heard."
Classical Voice North Carolina
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Beethoven Cycle
Media
 Brahms Trio op. 8
(I)
Beethoven op 1, #3 (I)
Smetana Trio (finale)
Beethoven op 1, #2
(IV)
 Schubert
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Weiss Kaplan Newman Trio
Three award-winning soloists
have created one of the most exciting piano trios performing today. The Weiss-Kaplan-Newman Trio
brings to each performance its distinctive fusion of authority and
experience, energy and passion. These three highly acclaimed musicians
- pianist Yael Weiss, violinist Mark Kaplan and cellist Clancy Newman
– comprise an ensemble that embraces the music of the future while
offering fresh insights into three centuries of masterworks.
The trio is consistently singled out by critics for combining an astute musical
intuition with exacting technical skill -- ”Newman’s magnificently resonant
cello, Kaplan’s soaring violin at its sweetest, and Weiss’ piano in gently
rhapsodic mode gave the music a special bloom, exquisite, ardent, and fresh.”
And throughout, the trio is hailed for balancing ensemble integrity
with the excitement of the soloist's turn --
"All three performers were able to project a strong musical
personality while nurturing a fine ensemble sound.”
Bridge Records released the Weiss-Kaplan-Newman Trio's CD featuring trios of Smetana and Brahms in early October 2011
which was immediately hailed as “one of the best chamber music CDs you are
likely to hear, this or any year.” More...
Founded in 2001
(originally as Sequenza), the trio has presented concerts
throughout the US, Europe and the Middle East, including recent
appearances at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, at Wigmore Hall
in London, on the Mannes Series in New York, at Princeton, UCLA, Indiana and Oxford Universities, the
Prague Festival, Jeju Island Music Festival in Korea and the Festival
of the Sound in Canada. A new recording of Paul Chihara's Ain't No
Sunshine, which the trio commissioned, was released on
Bridge
Records in 2008. In addition, a selection from the trio’s appearance
on the nationally broadcast St. Paul Sunday was chosen for the
show’s “Best of the Year” CD.
The ensemble
embraces the repertoire of the future while paying tribute to
three centuries of masterworks, with great performances exploring the
repertoire from the first piano trios to exciting newly commissioned
works. Their innovative programming offers not only piano trios, but
options on mixed repertoire for other instrumental combinations --
both from within the group and with the addition of guest artists on
special programs. During the next few seasons, the trio will be
offering the complete Beethoven Piano Trios - a
three concert cycle.
The group's new recording, slated for release in 2013, features works
of four contemporary composers: Lena Auerbach, Chen Yi, Paul Schoenfeld and the
trio's own Clancy Newman.
Uniformly praised for imaginative programming and
exciting performances, the ensemble offers residencies, providing
information and inspiration through concert performances, master
classers and private pedagogy.
Yael Weiss, pianist --
Acclaimed as a
pianist of “consummate artistry” (Washington Post) Yael Weiss has performed
across the United States, Europe, Japan, Korea and South America at such venues
as the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall and Wigmore Hall...
more
Mark Kaplan, violinist -- Internationally acknowledged
as one of the leading violinists of his generation, Mark Kaplan has played with
nearly every major American and European orchestra...
more
Clancy Newman, cellist --
First prize winner of the 2001 Walter W. Naumburg
International Competition and recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant in 2004,
cellist Clancy Newman has a dual career as both performer and composer...
more
"...the June 8 concert proved the trio in fine
form. Haydn's E-major Trio revealed Weiss's clean, crisp, articulate
keyboard work, in a first movement full of gumption and a finale that
had plenty of declarative spirit and controlled momentum. It seemed a
logical step from there into Brahms's C-minor Trio, Op. 101, where the Energico first movement lived up to the name and had its fair share of
bite and grit without sacrificing the warmth of its melting string
melody. The fast movement was elegant and deft, the Andante grazioso
flexible and tender, the finale assertive while paying due attention
to the softer aspects of the movement." American Record
Guide
CD Reviews (Brahms/Smetana disc on Bridge Records):
"This may just be the best of the best Brahms B-Major Trio performances I’ve yet
to hear on disc... this is absolutely one fabulous chamber music recording you
cannot afford to be without. Urgently recommended." Fanfare Magazine
"For those of us raised on the Rubinstein-Heifetz-Feuermann version, this
performance will appear a sweet rival, especially given the lush tone each of
the participants brings to this romantic score. The vibrant intensity of the
music finds bravura expression from this ensemble...." Audiophile Audition
"The pieces share a sweeping Romanticism that the members of the
Weiss-Kaplan-Newman Trio set forth to splendid effect. The Brahms (in the final
1889 version) receives a performance full of warmth and vitality, as does the
Smetana trio." Cleveland Plain Dealer
“[The] group plays the Brahms with great passion, combining moments of
virtuosity with a rare concentration in the slow movement…. Their emotional
range is very wide, and I was particularly impressed with Weiss’s soft playing
in the Adagio and her clean passagework in the finale. A terrific performance,
able to stand with the best.” American Record Guide
"they aren’t afraid, collectively or individually, to step
up to the plate when a given moment calls for really virtuosic brilliance...one
of the finest accounts I’ve ever heard of Bedřich Smetana’s Piano Trio in G
minor and the most convincing account ever of Johannes Brahms’ Piano Trio No. 1
in B Major. It all makes for one of the best chamber music CDs you are likely to
hear, this or any year." Phils Reviews
Weiss Kaplan Newman Trio
left to right: Clancy Newman, Mark Kaplan, Yael Weiss
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