Finckel and Setzer have played together since 1979 as members of the world-renowned Emerson String Quartet, an ensemble that has garnered eight Grammy Awards, three Gramophone Awards and the Avery Fisher Prize, arguably the most sought-after honor for chamber music groups.
Han is Finckel's wife and a distinguished pianist and pioneer of musical education in her own right. The New York Times once referred to the pair as "Chamber Music's Busy Power Couple." She and Finckel are also directors of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, as well as several music festivals and workshops for young artists.
"Our group is really a labor of love," Setzer said in an interview The Dartmouth. "We're all like family, and we have such a great time playing in this trio together."
The concert will showcase the piano trio, an ensemble comprised of a pianist, a violinist and a cellist, according to Margaret Lawrence, director of programming at the Hopkins Center, .
"[The trio] provides the broadly expressive possibilities of the piano added to the beautiful, rhapsodic melodies of a violin and cello," Lawrence said. "In a piano trio, you have the great intimacy of a string quartet, including the sense that the music is a vital, witty conversation going back and forth between the players."
Performing with the trio represents a welcome break from playing with the Emerson Quartet, which often plays upwards of 90 concerts a year, according to Setzer,
"It's certainly fun to do something other than the quartet," he said. "To play and really learn the repertoire of this piano trio genre is really fun."
While Han, Finckel and Setzer are experts on a variety of musical genres and styles, they often choose to immerse themselves in the work of a specific composer. After a longtime focus on the piano trios of Franz Schubert, the trio members decided to shift their focus to the works of Mendelssohn.
"We try to focus each season on one composer and really delve into their works," Setzer said. "Mendelssohn's piano trios have really exciting and beautiful melodies and are the pinnacles of the piano trio repertoire."
The trio members possess a deep admiration for Mendelssohn's music. In 2003, Finckel and Han founded the Music@Menlo chamber music institute in San Francisco. The 2009 Music@Menlo series was titled "Being Mendelssohn" and marked a celebration of the composer's life and works. A variety of renowned ensembles and lecturers attended the series to perform Mendelssohn's music and discuss his impact on the musical world.
The concert will showcase Mendelssohn's "youthful exuberance [and] vivid sometimes almost feverish excitement about music," Lawrence said.
The trio members admire not only Mendelssohn's compositional prowess, but also his intellectual character. Mendelssohn was a respected conductor as well as a composer, and he is also credited with resurrecting the compositions of Johann Sebastian Bach. He also pursued a wide range of passions beyond music including beekeeping and landscape art, according to Setzer.
"Mendelssohn was as much a Renaissance man as you could imagine," said Setzer. "He embraced life in a way so few people do, and you can hear that in his music, which is so full of life."
The star-studded concert at Dartmouth will begin with Mendelssohn's passionate and dramatic Cello Sonata in D Major, performed by Han and Finckel. Composed during a period of professional struggles, personal loss and emotional upheaval for Mendelssohn, the work reflects the feelings of burgeoning passion, which defined Mendelssohn's compositions.
Setzer will then join Han and Finckel on stage to present Mendelssohn's two works for piano trio. The ensemble intends to release a recording of Mendelssohn's piano trios this month, according to Setzer.
"[The pieces] are filled with dramatic moods, from the dark and portentous to the carefree and sparkling," Lawrence said.
Mendelssohn's Piano Trio No. 1, in the key of D minor, opens with a lyrical cello solo and "a million piano notes" played by Han, Setzer said. The following third movements of both pieces are light and playful "scherzo" sections, which reflect Mendelssohn's sense of humor, according to Setzer.
"Mendelssohn was the kind of guy you'd like to meet at a party or dinner," Setzer said regarding the composer's playful musical style.
The hallmark of the Mendelssohn's Piano Trio No. 2, in the key of C minor, is his inclusion of elements inspired by his Jewish roots. Although he was raised as a Christian, Mendelssohn was born Jewish, and he pays homage to his heritage by including motifs typical of Jewish songs in the last movement of this piece, which will close tonight's concert, according to Setzer.
The trio members will also give a post-concert talk and Setzer plans to meet with Dartmouth music majors on Friday morning to further discuss the works of Mendelssohn.
"We are thrilled to be coming to Dartmouth," Setzer said. "We hope everybody enjoys the concert as much as we will."
Finkel, Han and Setzer will perform this evening at 7 p.m. in Spaulding Auditorium at the Hopkins Center.
