Smetana Trio (Jana Vonášková-Nováková – violin, Jan Páleníček – cello, Jitka Čechová – piano), Přemysl Vojta – French horn, Ludmila Peterková – clarinet

The renowned and critically acclaimed Smetana Trio, after completing the recording of Antonín Dvořák’s complete trios (Supraphon), logically follows up with the integral works of Johannes Brahms. Brahms earned admiration for the piano in his childhood, and was often the first performer of his own compositions. Almost 40 years of the composer’s life span between the first trio Brahms wrote as a 20-year-old and the last. In addition to three piano trios in the traditional scoring, he wrote a horn trio and a clarinet trio. The sound of the French horn, which Brahms himself also played, is said to have been much loved by the composer’s mother; the horn trio was written in response to his mother’s death. The inspiration for the clarinet trio came from the renowned clarinettist Richard Mühlfeld, for whom the composer had great respect. The Smetana Trio’s guests on the recording are the excellent clarinettist Ludmila Peterková and horn player Přemysl Vojta, winner of the ARD Munich Competition (2010) and winner of the Beethoven Ring.