Leonore Piano Trio - Watkins: Chamber Music and Works for String Orchestra (2024

Widely recognised as the leading Welsh composer of his generation, Huw Watkins is an increasingly prolific writer of works for chamber ensembles, alongside his distinguished career as a pianist. Composed between 2009 and 2022, the five works featured on this disc take the listener on a fascinating journey through Watkins’s recent musical evolution. The acclaimed Leonore Piano Trio begin with the earliest of these works – the 2009 Piano Trio No. 1 – whilst conductor George Vass’s Orchestra Nova brings us the Little Symphony for strings and exquisite Concertino for violin and strings, performed here by trio violinist Benjamin Nabarro.

The trio is joined by violist Rachel Roberts for Watkins’ luminous Piano Quartet, while the programme concludes with the 2022 Piano Trio No. 2 – written for the fortieth anniversary of the Presteigne Festival and premiered there by the Leonore Piano Trio.

Tracklist
01 - Piano Trio No. 1_ I. Allegro
02 - Piano Trio No. 1_ II. Lento
03 - Piano Trio No. 1_ III. Allegro molto
04 - Little Symphony
05 - Piano Quartet
06 - Concertino
07 - Piano Trio No. 2