When Laurence Matheson and Matthias Balzat met in February 2020 to play trio concerts for Wilma & Friends, they hit it off instantly, both musically and personally. We decided to play more together and the Argyle Trio was born. However, a pandemic intervened to keep us on opposite sides of the planet until these 2023 concerts which will be our long-awaited reunion. Beethoven’s C minor Trio is such a perfect gem, it’s hard to believe it’s his Opus 1 and it’s the ideal springboard into the totally different world of heart-on-sleeve Slavic romanticism. Dvorak’s famous “Dumky” trio features a passionately lamenting cello – dumky being the plural of dumka, an epic ballad or song of lament. Less familiar, but a powerful work of unbridled passion, Smetana’s early trio is dedicated to his eldest daughter who had just died aged four from scarlet fever. He was a generation older than Dvorak and his rhapsodic trio of clearly elegiac character is a milestone of romanticism, in a way forecasting the music that would soon come from Brahms, Dvorak and others.

Argyle Trio will also be performing in New Zealand in September 2023. Check out their events page for more info.