Ruge Trio 如歌三重奏

NCPA Live

Felix Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor, Op. 49 stands among the most luminous achievements of nineteenth-century chamber music. Praised by Robert Schumann as a model of balance and imagination, the work unfolds as an intimate conversation in which lyricism, clarity, and dramatic impulse coexist in rare equilibrium.

This live recording, made at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing on 25 February 2024, brings together three young musicians whose artistic paths have been intertwined over many years. Pianist Hao Rao, violinist Wang Wendi, and cellist Liu Jiayi first met as students of the Morningside Music Bridge, an environment that fostered not only musical excellence but also a shared language of listening and trust. From this common ground grew a lasting friendship and, naturally, the formation of the Ruge Trio.

Their reading of Mendelssohn’s trio is shaped by an understanding of chamber music as collective breathing rather than individual display. The piano’s brilliance, the violin’s lyricism, and the cello’s depth are held in careful balance, allowing the work’s poetic inwardness and youthful ardour to emerge with clarity and sincerity.

Recorded live by Haotian Li 李昊天, this album captures a moment of artistic convergence—three voices, equal in dialogue, united by friendship and a shared devotion to the chamber music tradition.

Performers
Hao Rao 饶灏– piano
Wang Wendi 王温迪– violin
Liu Jiayi 刘佳亦 – cello