Incredible really how many great musicians there are in our small country! Pianists, violinists, cellists, singers, harpists…. You name it. And I’m not even talking about the chamber music ensembles. Alma Quartet, The Hague String Trio … all world-class. That also includes the Delta Piano Trio.

Pianist Vera Kooper, violinist Gerard Sponk and cellist Irene Enzlin met in Salzburg in 2013, where all three were students at the time. They clicked. They were on the same page and that not only musically, but also outside the concert stages and concert halls. Friends for life?

Origin is already the third CD they have recorded together, I missed the first two, but this one has been in my player for a few weeks . Well, on Spotify really, because it’s that easy. The title refers to the origin of the music from which the composers draw: unadulterated folklore as a guiding principle.

In Dvořák’s case, it is – more or less – obvious: Dvořák developed his own musical language through a love of folk music from which he then drew his inspiration. His ‘Dumky trio’ (just a digression: ‘dumky’ is a plural of the word ‘dumka’, which is then also a diminutive of ‘duma’, a wistful Slavic folk ballad) is the only work on the CD that has known any recognition. And even that is almost gone, because this work also is not performed that often these days.

Things become more painful when it comes to the other two composers and their works recorded on this CD. A real music lover will know the name of Frank Martin, but who knew that he also composed a Trio sur des mélodies populaires irlandaises? What did a Swiss living in the Netherlands have to do with Ireland? Oh well… does it really matter?

And then we come to Tigran Mansurian, arguably one of the most important Armenian composers. But even in his case, things are a bit complicated. He was born in 1939 in Beirut, Lebanon. His family moved to Armenia in 1947. He received his education in Yerevan. His Five Bagatelles have been recorded before and, as far as I am concerned, not often enough.

Delta Piano Trio: “Three composers, three different cultures and three different eras, but with one similarity: a search for musical origins”.

Is there anything I can add? Yes. Not only the music, but also the performance is at the highest level. Don’t let this gem pass you

Frank Martin: Trio sur des mélodies populaires irlandaises
Tigran Mansurian: Five Bagatelles for piano trio
Antonín Dvořák: Piano Trio No. 4 in E, op. op. (Dumky)
Delta Piano Trio