Classicism, humour, energy: Trio Bohémo and the first complete recording of Reicha’s trios

Anton Reicha was a Bohemia-born, Bavarian-educated, later naturalized French composer, who was a friend and contemporary of Beethoven. Whilst he wrote in a wide variety of genres he is mainly remembered for his substantial early contributions to the wind quintet literature and his role as teacher of pupils including Franz Liszt, Hector Berlioz and César Franck. 

Now the Trio Bohémo presents the first complete
modern recording of Anton Reicha’s Six Piano
Trios, Op. 101 on Supraphon. After more than two centuries,
these works have finally been captured with
distinction by Trio Bohémo in Vienna with
the recording team of Andrew Keener and Oscar
Torres. Just before the recording’s release,
we talked with the trio’s cellist Kristina Vocetková.

Kristina, what led Trio Bohémo to the music
of Anton Reicha and to his lesser-known
but exceptionally inventive piano trios?

It was Supraphon’s chief executive producer
Matouš Vlčinský who came up with the idea of
recording Anton Reicha’s works for piano trio.
Because we have long felt a great affinity for
Classicism, and because our studies at
the European Chamber Music Academy
involved intensive training in the field of informed interpretation for that period, the idea appealed to
us instantly.

Reicha’s trios are notorious for their technical
and expressive complexity. What were the most
challenging moments when learning
the recording them?

We had some surprising moments with Reicha’s
trios from the start – when learning them, we were
shocked at first by their technical demands and
then by their expressive complexity. Gradually,
however, we began to discover Reicha’s
inventiveness, a certain visionary quality,
and above all his sense of humour. The last
but perhaps nicest surprise has been the entirely
positive reaction of audiences around the world.

You made the recording in Vienna with
the proven team of Andrew Keener and Oscar
Torres. How was the atmosphere in the studio,
and how did their approach contribute to
the resulting sound?

We also worked with Andrew Keener and Oscar
Torres on our first album, and we knew what
to expect from each other, so we were greatly
looking forward to making another recording
together. And that definitely was reflected in
the atmosphere in the studio and in the overall
result. Reicha’s music is very joyful, and our
recording sessions were like that too. We can
absolutely rely on Andrew and Oscar. We like
the way they go about their work, so collaborating with them again on this project was a great
pleasure.

This is the first complete reference recording of
all six of Reicha’s trios. How does it feel to be
the first performers to give this music its voice
back after over two centuries?

The fact the Reicha’s trios are not burdened by
a strong interpretive tradition gave us plenty of
room to find our own individual path. We tried to
apply the approach of informed interpretation of
music of the Classical period, but at the same
time, what we enjoyed doing was discovering
the elements of humour that are concealed to
a greater or lesser degree. It was a challenge for us
to avoid making certain comparisons between
Reicha and his contemporaries and successors.
We tried to bring our own unique interpretive
approach to his music, reflected in our handling
of tone, use of the pedal, vibrato, phrasing,
and evenly balanced articulation.

Reicha is often called a visionary who foresaw
elements 19th- and even 20th- century music.
How would you characterise his musical language
to listeners perhaps hearing his music for the very
first time?

Having spent months working intensively on
Reicha’s music, we would describe his musical
style as a peculiar combination of Late Classicism
with Early Romanticism, enhanced by a great deal
of joy and energy. He stands out for his daring
handling of harmonic progressions and for his
surprising shifts of expressive mood. 

Trio Bohémo – Matouš Pěruška (violin), Kristina
Vocetková (cello), and Jan Vojtek (piano) – have
emerged as one of Europe’s leading chamber
ensembles in the span of just a few years. They
have won first prize at prestigious international
competitions (Haydn Competition in Vienna,
Parkhouse Award in London, Johannes Brahms
Competition in Austria), and they appear at major
venues worldwide like Vienna’s Musikverein,
London’s Wigmore Hall, and the Prague Spring
Festival. 

Their debut album on Supraphon (2024)
received enthusiastic reviews in media including
Classical Album of the Week in The Guardian
and five stars from the BBC Music Magazine and I spoke to them about the album in 2024, see my interview ‘Waiting till they feel they have something to say’