Van Baerle Trio has had a rich history in the few years of its existence. We started playing together almost by accident – we didn’t (or almost didn’t) know each other when we met for our first rehearsal! Musically, we were coming from very different backgrounds: I was coming from a ‘Russian school’ background and had very little experience in chamber music playing; Gideon was always very interested in performance practice and had a long experience in chamber music and ensemble playing; Hannes didn’t come from a musical family, and was therefore curious about everything and interested in all sorts of music (from Sweelinck to Percy Grainger) – he always knew pieces which we never heard about!

The biggest step in our development came when we took part in a masterclass given by Menahem Pressler in Amsterdam in december 2008. Mr. Pressler was extremely tough and demanding - on a higher level than anything we experienced before. While working on Brahms, he also made us understand what is chamber music playing at the highest level – about listening to each other, knowing each other’s parts, always demand the best from each other, and find together a unity of thought and feeling in order to express the music.

In this debut CD we combine works by Frenchmen Saint-Saëns and Ravel and the Dutch composer Theo Loevendie, as homage to our French-Dutch connection.