Unity in Diversity Trio Catch: A Portrait
Annette Zerpner
Clarinet, cello, and piano—as attractive as it is unusual, this combination of a flexible wind instrument, the mellifluous tone of the cello, and the versatility of the piano inspired three young musicians to found an ensemble ten years ago. With his famous A-minor Trio Op. 114, Johannes Brahms left a lasting musical monument to this combination of instruments. Did that work provide the initial spark for Trio Catch? Boglárka Pecze, the Hungarian-born clarinetist, shakes her head. Everything began when the three were fellows of the International Ensemble Modern Academy in Frankfurt in 2009, with a composition by Helmut Lachenmann. The trio eventually took its name from a piece by the British composer Thomas Adès: in his 1991 work Catch, a classical piano trio with violin and cello “captures” a clarinet. It was a catch that has proven fruitful: “There is much more interest in our combination of instruments, both from composers and from audiences, than you might think,” Pecze says. She and the Swiss cellist Eva Boesch—who joined the trio in 2013—are on a rehearsal break for a workshop concert at Berlin’s Radialsystem. The two musicians discuss the work of their ensemble, which also includes Korean pianist Sun-Young Nam, and their unusual repertoire, which they are continuously expanding. Although they do perform Brahms, of course, as well as Beethoven’s “Gassenhauer” Trio or a mid–19th century work by the French composer Louise Farrenc, music of the 20th and 21st centuries is at the center of their activities. Several of these works were commissioned and premiered by Trio Catch. But nothing could be further from their minds than compartmentalizing—rather, their 11
