On Wednesday 22nd July the South Korean piano Trio Thalia, a purely female ensemble whose name makes reference to The Three Graces from Greek mythology, performed here. “The name was actually an idea of our violinist’s husband – we are three women and musicians so the name is really appropriate,” say the members of the trio. Their works include three different musical traditions and cultures: violinist E-jung Kim studied in the USA, violoncellist Sook-jung Lee in Paris and pianist Yoon-ju Oh in Germany and Austria. The first part of their concert in Český Krumlov was also a tribute to Czech music – the audience heard Josef Suk’s Elegy and Antonín Dvořák’s Piano Trio No. 3. “We play Dvořák quite often; he is a popular author in Korea. This composition is beautiful, although it is very difficult. We also play Dvořák’s Dumky. This evening we decided to include one more Czech composition to please the Czech audience – Josef Suk’s composition.” In the second half of the evening the ensemble played Piano Trio No. 3 by Johannes Brahms and Le Grand Tango by Ástor Piazzolla who also belongs to Trio Thalia’s favourite authors. The members of the Trio Thalia have also recorded a CD of Piazzolla’s compositions. And what are their future plans? “This week we have one more concert in the Czech Republic, we are playing with the Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra at the Smetana Hall in Prague. But tomorrow morning we want to make a tour of Český Krumlov. We are here for the first time and we are really enchanted by it, it is an amazing town.”
South Korean Trio Thalia Played Dvořák and Suk
The second festival week started with a concert at the Masquerade Hall, a magical space full of paintings created by Josef Lederer in 1748, which were inspired by a masquerade ball and Italian commedia dell’arte.