Piano Trio: Movement II - Reena Esmail - Suzana Bartal, Vijay Gupta, Peter Myers

Piano Trio: Movement II Suzana Bartal, Piano Vijay Gupta, Violin Peter Myers, Cello Recorded at University of La Verne, February 17, 2020. Directed by Louis Ng *** Excerpted program notes from the composer: "Flutters, slides and harmonics continue in the slow movement, creating a sense of improvisatory freedom while the music slips in and out of time... Writing a Piano Trio has fulfilled one of Esmail’s oldest ambitions as a musician. Growing up as a talented pianist, trios with violin and cello were her favorite form of chamber music, and she won a life-changing competition that resulted in her performing Mendelssohn’s Second Piano Trio with members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. She also counts Ravel’s Piano Trio as an all-time favorite work, noting,“So much of what I’ve learned about color and texture in my writing comes from Ravel.” After three years of work and a pile of sketches that is up to 300 pages and counting, Esmail was still polishing off the substantial score that reckons with the rigorous tradition of the four-movement piano trio, even with less that three weeks to go before the premiere."