Korppoo Trio (Jean Sibelius)

Executive producer: Jim Mulally. When you hear this trio play Sibelius, you'll understand why the Sibelius family granted Petteri, Juho and Samuli use of the composer's name. Jean Sibelius' piano trios were important to him personally. He wrote them in his youth, during the summers he vacationed with his brother Christian and sister Linda on various islands in Houtskar, the Finnish archipelago off the southwest coast of Finland. Sibelius wrote Korppoo Trio on Korrpoo Island where the composer (violin), Linda (piano) and Christian (cello) played it on 'rainy days' at the family's summer house. - Bob Attiyeh, producer'Sibelius gave us his monumental Korppoo Trio in D Major (JS 209) in 1887. We can hear the magnificent mature Sibelius peeking out through this work. Sibelius wrote Korppoo Trio in three sophisticated and dramatic movements... Korppoo opens with a good-humored celebration of the Beauty of Nature and includes a thoughtful Fugue in the development section which demonstrates his growing power as a composer. Next comes a Fantasia, improvisational and painterly in nature, with frequent tempo changes and mood swings, ending with passages of natural serenity that remind me of bird song. Sibelius reveals his fun sense of humor in the final Rondo, which he writes without allowing himself to be inhibited by traditions of the 'approved' classical tradition.' - Juho Pohjonen