Rautio Piano Trio: Patronage & Influence in Vienna

Rautio Piano Trio play at Kino-Teatr on Sunday 15 November, starting at 3:00 PM. The afternoon is held in association with the Hastings Chamber Music Festival and supported by the Continuo Foundation.

The programme centres on Marianne Martines, an eighteenth-century Viennese composer, singer and keyboard player who hosted one of the city's most important musical salons. Her work is played alongside Haydn and Beethoven, and the whole thing is performed on a fortepiano brought to Kino-Teatr from Glyndebourne. If you're not familiar with the instrument, it's the predecessor to the modern piano, with a lighter, more distinct sound that changes how these pieces sit.

The trio consists of Jane Gordon on violin, Victoria Simonsen on cello and Jan Rautio on piano. They've been performing and recording together for more than two decades, with appearances at Wigmore Hall, Kings Place and the Southbank Centre in the UK and concerts across Europe. Their discography covers Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven and Schubert, with recordings that have earned five-star reviews in BBC Music Magazine and recommendations in The Strad. They're also one of very few ensembles undertaking a complete fortepiano recording of Beethoven's piano trios for Resonus Classics.

Beyond the classics, they champion contemporary music and the work of women composers, and they play on both period and modern instruments. That's why Martines takes centre stage here, her music sharing the bill with the bigger names of the Viennese tradition. Tickets are £19.53, which includes the booking fee, for a 3:00 PM start at Kino-Teatr in St Leonards-on-Sea.