“Carnival, Trout and Blue” begins in the imaginative world of Camille Saint-Saëns’ Carnival of the Animals, where the ensemble transforms itself into a menagerie of lions, kangaroos, donkeys, and even a graceful swan. Written with tongue-in-cheek humor as entertainment for friends, this playful suite invites us to hear the animal kingdom come alive through music: sometimes majestic, sometimes silly, always full of charm.
From Saint-Saëns’ whimsical zoo, we follow the current downstream to Franz Schubert’s “Trout Quintet.” Just as water ripples around rocks and sunlight dances on the surface, Schubert’s music sparkles with warmth and energy. His famous song Die Forelle (“The Trout”) swims through the fourth movement in a set of lively variations, each instrument taking its turn to play in the stream.
Our journey ends not in nature, but in the bustling cityscape of George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue,” arranged for piano and string quintet. With its jazzy clarinet slide (ahem, viola in this case), glittering piano solos, and irresistible rhythmic drive, the piece captures the excitement of modern life in 1920s America. It’s as if the playful animals of Saint-Saëns and the splashing trout of Schubert have leapt straight into the bright lights of the metropolis, where classical tradition meets jazz and leaves us grinning from ear to ear.