Rossini, Martin
Formenti, Romanoff Schwarzberg, Swiss Piano Trio

Sonia Formenti, flute

Nora Romanoff Schwarzberg, viola

Swiss Piano Trio

Angela Golubeva, violin

Franz Ortner, cello

Martin Lucas Staub, piano

Gioachino Rossini (1792–1868)

Sonata a quattro No. 1 in G major

Frank Martin (1890–1974)

Trio sur des mélodies populaires irlandaises

30’ | Admission with museum ticket

In the evocative Galleria degli Specchi of Palazzo Ducale, the resonance of sound accompanies the listening experience of Rossini’s Sonata No. 1 in G major and Martin’s Trio sur des mélodies populaires irlandaises, encouraging an intense introspective dimension.

In Rossini’s work, the composer’s precocious genius emerges through an unusual ensemble, where the double bass interacts on equal footing with the other instruments and the flute takes on a virtuosic, almost operatic role. The ensemble recreates the atmosphere of nineteenth-century salons, with agile themes, brilliant ornamentation, and lively rhythms that sustain a vivid narrative tension even without words.

In Martin’s Trio, on the other hand, Irish folk melodies are reworked with modern rigor: not simple quotations, but rhythmic and harmonic transformations. The first movement unfolds with a hypnotic pulse, the Adagio suspends time, while the final Gigue bursts forth in an energetic and polyrhythmic dance requiring exceptional precision from the performers.

Performing this dialogue between such complementary works is a truly exceptional ensemble: Sonia Formenti on flute; Nora Romanoff Schwarzberg, Angela Golubeva, and Franz Ortner on strings; and Martin Lucas Staub at the piano.

Text by Martina Sangermano