Ovidiu Marinescu, cello
Alexandr Kislitsyn, violin
Anna Kislitsyna, piano
Since making a highly-praised debut at the 1996 edition of the Pablo Casals Festival in Puerto Rico, Trio Casals has delighted audiences with spectacular virtuosity, engaging enthusiasm, and exquisite musical elegance. Consisting of pianist Anna Kislitsyna, violinist Alexandr Kislitsyn, cellist Ovidiu Marinescu, Trio Casals has released several commercial albums with PARMA Recordings and Navona Records to critical acclaim, from the beloved MOTO series to A GRAND JOURNEY and more.
Trio Casals has appeared in Carnegie Hall’s Weill Hall regularly since their debut performance at the prestigious venue in 2016. Beyond New York City, the virtuosic chamber ensemble has held performances on a global scale, reaching from the Rachmaninov Hall of the Moscow Conservatory to Holywell Room in Oxford, England, the Academy of Music in Philadelphia, and large-scale tours in China and Romania. Other notable previous engagements include a week-long collaboration with the Nashville Ballet and composer Michael Kurek, appearances in the Triple Concerto by Beethoven with the Helena and Southeastern PA Symphonies, and concerts in Pennsylvania, New York, and Delaware.
Trio Casals has created original programs that juxtapose the great classical tradition of Beethoven, Brahms, Dvorak, and Tchaikovsky with new works written by American composers, such as Paul Schoenfield, Michael Kurek, George Rochberg, Hilary Tann, and over 30 other contemporary composers, of whom many have written for Trio Casals: Diane Jones, L Peter Deutsch, Joanna Estelle, Clive Muncaster, David Nisbet Stewart, Nicolas Ascioti, Brian Noyes, and Joanne D. Carey, to name a few. The trio often plays the works of Astor Piazzolla, who brought the Argentine tango from the dance halls onto the concert stage. In addition to its performing schedule, Trio Casals is committed to music education, offering regular master classes at schools and colleges. Its members have played in shelters for victims of domestic abuse, nursing homes, and hospitals, and all three have a distinguished career as soloists.
News
Albums
Sonix and other Tonix
Release Date: March 15, 2024
Catalog Number: NV6603
Catalog Number: NV6603
21st Century
Chamber
Flute
Percussion
String Quartet
SONIX AND OTHER TONIX is a collection of innovative chamber works from composer Jan Järvlepp. The title refers to his piece Sonix for Ónix, composed for the Ónix Ensamble of Mexico. It combines elements from his most popular chamber and orchestral works, Pierrot Solaire and Garbage Concerto, respectively. The album also features Trio No. 3, a three-movement work for violin, cello, and piano which protests the rise of the surveillance state. SONIX AND OTHER TONIX also includes Shinkansen, which takes listeners for a ride on a Japanese bullet train, and In Memoriam, written for the composer’s late brother. Spanning a diverse range of topics and influences, SONIX AND OTHER TONIX exemplifies the iconoclastic creativity for which Järvlepp is known.
Sonix+
Release Date: January 19, 2024
Catalog Number: NV6596
Catalog Number: NV6596
21st Century
Chamber
Clarinet
Flute
Piano Trio
SONIX+, a collection of new works from cellist and composer Jan Järvlepp, is some of his most creative and defiant. The title piece, composed for the Ónix Ensemble of Mexico, draws upon elements from Järvlepp’s renowned works with a hidden theme from the 1960s sprinkled within. Trio No. 3 incorporates a very different concept from 1960s culture: protest music. The piece cries out against the constant surveillance that takes place in modern life, from cameras on every street corner to keyword tracking on search engines. Järvlepp’s music is unrelenting, one-of-a-kind, and inspired — a well balanced blend of time-tested virtuosity spoken through modern themes.
Aria
Release Date: January 5, 2024
Catalog Number: NV6577
Catalog Number: NV6577
21st Century
Chamber
Vocal Music
Harp
Piano Trio
Voice
Composer Michael Cohen delivers an enticing follow up to his 2022 Navona Records release with ARIA, his second full album of original chamber works. Featuring a mix of studio and live recordings captured from various points in his diverse and expansive career, Cohen’s music emanates a thorough line of vitality and fervor. While strikingly rooted in tonal principles, these works embrace an elegant, confident, and ebullient character, permeated by a magnificent, effervescent spontaneity throughout.
Transmutation
Release Date: October 27, 2023
Catalog Number: NV6559
Catalog Number: NV6559
21st Century
Chamber
Vocal Music
Orchestra
Piano Trio
Voice
Transmutation: “to change or alter in form, appearance, or nature, especially to a higher form.”
Joanna Estelle embodies this definition in her deeply personal and profound compositions on TRANSMUTATION, a communal effort featuring various talented performers coming together to transmute their message to you.
With music as vulnerable and exposed as the stories it tells, TRANSMUTATION is a reflection on the patterns of life through periods of both rain and shine, and the constants that keep us grounded through the changes that they bring. Estelle’s message is clear: to allow for change is to allow for healing.
A Grand Journey Vol. 2
Release Date: August 11, 2023
Catalog Number: NV6550
Catalog Number: NV6550
21st Century
Chamber
Piano Trio
With music echoing themes of persistence in the face of adversity, calls for reflection and attention on acts of injustice, and more, A GRAND JOURNEY VOL. 2 delivers resounding chamber music from a diverse range of contemporary composers. Performed by the critically-acclaimed Trio Casals, this Navona Records release offers a variety of sounds, from traditional classical forms to jazz-infused rhythms, mixed meters, and a deeply-moving piece for solo cello.
Trios & Sonatinas
Release Date: March 24, 2023
Catalog Number: NV6511
Catalog Number: NV6511
21st Century
Chamber
Piano
Piano Trio
Viola
If there is one thing that is important to Richard E Brown, it’s clarity; it would be impossible to listen to any of his compositions without finding one’s emotions immediately and intuitively seized, no explanations necessary. Brown’s music is at once neoclassical and aesthetic, and his selection of TRIOS & SONATINAS makes for a perfect introduction.
Aforementioned clarity is also the secret ingredient which allows Brown to breezily and naturally unite polar opposites: the Western classical piano trio with Korean folk themes, the simple sonatina form with musical complexity, and the frail violin and resounding horn as equals in another trio. Simplicity is supposedly the ultimate form of sophistication, and TRIOS & SONATINAS makes a strong point indeed.
Figments Vol. 3
Release Date: May 27, 2022
Catalog Number: NV6419
Catalog Number: NV6419
21st Century
Chamber
Oboe
Piano Trio
Violin
On FIGMENTS VOL. 3 from Navona Records, the imaginations of composers Jacob E. Goodman, Gary D. Belshaw, Andrew Lewinter, Thomas Mann Jr, Elliott Miles McKinley, and Eleanor Alberga are brought to life in a dynamic breadth of emotional performances, from soothing to exhilarating and natural to mythical. A dynamic assortment of contemporary chamber music, fantasy and reality collide to bring forth exhilarating stories spanning scenes from Greek Mythology to those of spirited animals and surreal scenic portraits. Universal melodies and rhythms find their form, short sketches evoke seasonal qualities, and fantasies float into reality in this collection.
Moto Finale
Release Date: December 10, 2021
Catalog Number: NV6388
Catalog Number: NV6388
21st Century
Chamber
Piano Trio
MOTO FINALE brings the beloved chamber music series to a close with a number of works inspired by nature, loss, spiritual connection, and music of the past. The seasoned Trio Casals returns for this seventh and final installment to perform the works of seven composers in a diverse and conclusive capstone of modern composition. A fitting album to end the series, MOTO FINALE rewards the attention of listeners as it leads them on a journey of interweaving experiences. Trauma and chaos mingle with tranquility, nostalgia, melancholy, and hope, painting a broad emotional landscape.
A Grand Journey
Release Date: September 10, 2021
Catalog Number: NV6367
Catalog Number: NV6367
21st Century
Chamber
Solo Instrumental
Piano
Piano Trio
Inspired by traditional melodies and cultural flavors, A GRAND JOURNEY gives us contemporary chamber works by Richard E Brown, Ovidiu Marinescu, and Mark G. Simon. Performed by internationally acclaimed Trio Casals, these distinct works immerse listeners in varying motifs drawn from diverse cultures, simulating a journey of melodic Korean folk patterns, Greek mythological icons, Irish fiddling, tango, and sensations garnered from the Black Sea and English countryside.
Moto Eterno
Release Date: March 26, 2021
Catalog Number: NV6341
Catalog Number: NV6341
21st Century
Chamber
Piano Trio
Ten international composers showcase their respective styles on MOTO ETERNO, the latest installment of NAVONA's successful MOTO chamber music series. Like the previous MOTO releases, MOTO ETERNO is the result of a wide-ranging Call For Scores and a scrupulous selection process. Acclaimed piano trio Trio Casals (Ovidiu Marinescu, cello; Alexandr Kislitsyn, violin; Anna Kislitsyna, piano), masterfully perform their favorite picks.
Moto Celeste
Release Date: January 24, 2020
Catalog Number: NV6266
Catalog Number: NV6266
21st Century
Chamber
Solo Instrumental
Cello
Piano Trio
In MOTO CELESTE, the fifth installment in Navona Records’ MOTO series, the internationally-acclaimed Trio Casals takes on eight new works by eight preeminent composers. It is an electrifying collection, full of drama and adventure. The compositions borrow from an eclectic array of musical traditions, including rhumba and flamenco music. MOTO CELESTE is forged into a cohesive work by the trio’s sensitive and highly-organic performances.
Moto Quarto
Release Date: July 12, 2019
Catalog Number: NV6237
Catalog Number: NV6237
21st Century
Chamber
String Quartet
Acclaimed international piano trio Trio Casals makes a triumphant return with the fourth installment of Navona Records' MOTO series, zestfully interpreting nine new American compositions – virtually all of them either tailor-made or arranged for the ensemble. The opening track, Three for Three by David Nisbet Stewart, could almost be considered a neoclassical piano trio – if you're thinking along the lines of Prokofiev's Love for Three Oranges. Like his Russian predecessor, Stewart chose to endow his composition with a perspicacious structure, along which the motives and modulations climb like vines on a trellis.
Moto Bello
Release Date: May 11, 2018
Catalog Number: NV6156
Catalog Number: NV6156
21st Century
Chamber
Piano Trio
Navona Records and the acclaimed ensemble Trio Casals proudly present MOTO BELLO, the next chapter in the moving series that brought 2015’s MOTO CONTINUO and MOTO PERPETUO in 2013. Living up to its name, MOTO BELLO, or “beautiful motion,” is a collection celebrating the synergy of Trio Casals and the vibrant works of ten contemporary composers including Diane Jones, Beth Mehocic, David N. Stewart, Sidney Bailin, L Peter Deutsch, Giovanni Piacentini, Adrienne Albert, Clive Muncaster, Joanne D. Carey, and Bruce Babcock.
Moto Continuo
Release Date: July 10, 2015
Catalog Number: NV6003
Catalog Number: NV6003
21st Century
Chamber
Solo Instrumental
Cello
Piano Trio
Praised for his "bold and expressive" playing (Gramophone Magazine), cellist Ovidiu Marinescu and Navona Records present MOTO CONTINUO, a collection of six contemporary solo cello and piano trio works - from the intense, dark, and expressive to the calm, light, and austere - performed by Marinescu and his colleagues from Trio Casals, violinist Sylvia Ahramjian and pianist Anna Kislitsyna.
