Alma Trio
Encyclopedia
The Alma Trio was a classical
piano trio
established in 1942 at the Alma Estate of Yehudi Menuhin
in Los Gatos, California
.
, violin
; Gabor Rejto, cello
; and Adolph Baller
, piano
. The members of the Trio had been encouraged by the famed artist, Yehudi Menuhin
, to establish themselves as a professional piano trio. Adolph Baller
had emigrated to the United States
in 1938 with the sponsorship of Menuhin, following harrowing experiences at the hands of the Nazis in Austria
and Germany
. After arriving in the United States
, Baller was a guest of Menuhin and became his regular collaborating pianist, as he had been earlier in Europe
.
, who remained their violinist for ten years until his sudden death in Fall 1963. A review in the New York Times, December 1, 1954, had this to say:
Violinist Andor Toth
joined the Trio in the Spring of 1963. During the Fall of 1963, the Alma Trio made their first Russian tour. In a story related to this author, at the airport Rejto was informed of a new rule, that he would need a second ticket for his cello, and there were no remaining seats available. Faced with the impending cancellation of the tour, Rejto responded quickly, "But it is a bass balalaika
." He was able to fly since that instrument was not listed by the airline
joined the Trio until it disbanded in 1976. From 1982 to 1986 the Trio resumed performing with Andor Toth
, Gabor Rejto and Adolph Baller
for a few concerts mainly in the northern California bay area. The original cellist "Gabby" Rejto died in 1987, and the original pianist "Usiu" Baller died in 1994. Andor Toth
lived until 2006 when he died of a stroke
in Los Angeles, California
at age 81.
s by Beethoven, Brahms, and Schubert.
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
piano trio
Piano trio
A piano trio is a group of piano and two other instruments, usually a violin and a cello, or a piece of music written for such a group. It is one of the most common forms found in classical chamber music...
established in 1942 at the Alma Estate of Yehudi Menuhin
Yehudi Menuhin
Yehudi Menuhin, Baron Menuhin, OM, KBE was a Russian Jewish American violinist and conductor who spent most of his performing career in the United Kingdom. He was born to Russian Jewish parents in the United States, but became a citizen of Switzerland in 1970, and of the United Kingdom in 1985...
in Los Gatos, California
Los Gatos, California
The Town of Los Gatos is an incorporated town in Santa Clara County, California, United States. The population was 29,413 at the 2010 census. It is located in the San Francisco Bay Area at the southwest corner of San Jose in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains...
.
Original members
The original founding members of the Alma Trio were Roman TotenbergRoman Totenberg
Roman Totenberg is a Polish-American violinist and educator.He is the father of National Public Radio journalist Nina Totenberg...
, violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
; Gabor Rejto, cello
Cello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
; and Adolph Baller
Adolph Baller
Adolph Baller was an Austrian-American pianist.- Early years :...
, piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
. The members of the Trio had been encouraged by the famed artist, Yehudi Menuhin
Yehudi Menuhin
Yehudi Menuhin, Baron Menuhin, OM, KBE was a Russian Jewish American violinist and conductor who spent most of his performing career in the United Kingdom. He was born to Russian Jewish parents in the United States, but became a citizen of Switzerland in 1970, and of the United Kingdom in 1985...
, to establish themselves as a professional piano trio. Adolph Baller
Adolph Baller
Adolph Baller was an Austrian-American pianist.- Early years :...
had emigrated to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1938 with the sponsorship of Menuhin, following harrowing experiences at the hands of the Nazis in Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. After arriving in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Baller was a guest of Menuhin and became his regular collaborating pianist, as he had been earlier in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.
New violinists
In 1953 Totenberg left the Trio and was replaced by Maurice WilkMaurice Wilk
- Summary :Maurice Wilk was a well-known American violinist who performed as a member of the Alma Trio from 1953 until his sudden death in 1963....
, who remained their violinist for ten years until his sudden death in Fall 1963. A review in the New York Times, December 1, 1954, had this to say:
- "Having acquired a new violinist in Maurice WilkMaurice Wilk- Summary :Maurice Wilk was a well-known American violinist who performed as a member of the Alma Trio from 1953 until his sudden death in 1963....
, the Alma Trio has taken a new lease on life. It deserves to be long and prosperous — that is, if the ensemble continues to play as beautifully as it played last night when it opened the cycle of three Beethoven concerts that it is giving at Town Hall . . . few chamber ensembles play the Bonn master with such refinement of spirit and such subtlety of tonal shading."http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0F13FF3C58157A93C3A91789D95F408585F9&scp=1&sq=alma%20trio&st=cse
Violinist Andor Toth
Andor Toth
Violinist Andor John Toth , earned international celebrity as a soloist, concert artist, conductor and educator with a musical career spanning over six decades...
joined the Trio in the Spring of 1963. During the Fall of 1963, the Alma Trio made their first Russian tour. In a story related to this author, at the airport Rejto was informed of a new rule, that he would need a second ticket for his cello, and there were no remaining seats available. Faced with the impending cancellation of the tour, Rejto responded quickly, "But it is a bass balalaika
Balalaika
The balalaika is a stringed musical instrument popular in Russia, with a characteristic triangular body and three strings.The balalaika family of instruments includes instruments of various sizes, from the highest-pitched to the lowest, the prima balalaika, secunda balalaika, alto balalaika, bass...
." He was able to fly since that instrument was not listed by the airline
New pianist
This membership of the Alma Trio (Toth, Rejto, Baller) continued until Baller's retirement in 1971, when pianist William Corbett JonesWilliam Corbett Jones
William Corbett Jones is an American pianist who has performed throughout the USA, Canada, Mexico and Central America, Europe, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Singapore.- Education :...
joined the Trio until it disbanded in 1976. From 1982 to 1986 the Trio resumed performing with Andor Toth
Andor Toth
Violinist Andor John Toth , earned international celebrity as a soloist, concert artist, conductor and educator with a musical career spanning over six decades...
, Gabor Rejto and Adolph Baller
Adolph Baller
Adolph Baller was an Austrian-American pianist.- Early years :...
for a few concerts mainly in the northern California bay area. The original cellist "Gabby" Rejto died in 1987, and the original pianist "Usiu" Baller died in 1994. Andor Toth
Andor Toth
Violinist Andor John Toth , earned international celebrity as a soloist, concert artist, conductor and educator with a musical career spanning over six decades...
lived until 2006 when he died of a stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
at age 81.
New York Times Review
External links
- Altenberg Trio Ensemble Database
- Roman Totenberg
- Gabor Rejto
- Adolph Baller
- Andor Toth
- William Corbett Jones
- Note in an announcement of a recital by Baller
Past performances
- Online Archive of California
- South Bay Chamber Music Society - The Early Concerts
- Dallas, Texas Chamber Music Organization, Past Concerts
- The Morrison Artist Series Past Seasons
- Carmel Music Society Past Performances
- Cape Town, South Africa Concert Series
- Los Alamos, New Mexico Concert Association
- Friends of Chamber Music, Stockton, California
- Buffalo Chamber Music Society 1967 and 1970 (PDF file)
Discography
The following Alma Trio recordings in LP format are cataloged by the Library of Congress. They are piano trioPiano trio
A piano trio is a group of piano and two other instruments, usually a violin and a cello, or a piece of music written for such a group. It is one of the most common forms found in classical chamber music...
s by Beethoven, Brahms, and Schubert.
- Trio in E-flat major, op. 1, no. 1. Trio in B-flat, op. 11 Beethoven, Ludwig van, 1770-1827. | [1955?] | sound recording-musical | LC Control No.: 99572538]. Trio in B-flat, op. 11 Beethoven, Ludwig van, 1770-1827. | [1955?] | sound recording-musical | LC Control No.: 99572538
- Trio in C minor (No. 3, op. 1); Trio no. 11 (op. 121A) ten variations on "Ich bin der Schneider Kakadu." Beethoven, Ludwig van, 1770-1827. | [1955?] | sound recording-musical | LC Control No.: 99567526
- Trio in D major for piano, violin, and cello, op. 70, no. 1 (Ghost). Trio in E-flat major for piano, violin, and cello, op. 70, no. 2. [Sound recording] Beethoven, Ludwig van, 1770-1827. | text | LC Control No.: r 62001425
- Trio in D major for piano, violin, and cello, op. 70, no. 1 (Ghost). Trio in E-flat major for piano, violin, and cello, op. 70, no. 2. [Sound recording] Beethoven, Ludwig van, 1770-1827. | text | LC Control No.: r 62001424
- Trio in E-flat major for piano, violin, and cello, op. 1, no. 1. [Sound recording] Beethoven, Ludwig van, 1770-1827. | text | LC Control No.: r 61001238
- Trio in C major for piano, violin, and cello, op. 87. [Sound recording] Brahms, Johannes, 1833-1897. | text | LC Control No.: r 61001239
- Trio in C major for piano, violin, and cello, op. 87. [Sound recording] Brahms, Johannes, 1833-1897. | text | LC Control No.: r 61001237
- Trio in E-flat major for piano, violin, and cello, op. 1, no. 1. [Sound recording] Beethoven, Ludwig van, 1770-1827. | text | LC Control No.: r 61001236
- Trio in E flat major, op. 100 Schubert, Franz, 1797-1828. | [1948?] | sound recording-musical | LC Control No.: 2001564588
- Trio in B-flat major, for piano, violin, and cello, op. 97. [Sound recording] (Archduke) Beethoven, Ludwig van, 1770-1827. | text | LC Control No.: r 64001395
- Trio no. 2, in E-flat major, op. 100. [Sound recording] Schubert, Franz, 1797-1828. | text | LC Control No.: r 61001037
- Trio no. 2, in E-flat major, op. 100. [Sound recording] Schubert, Franz, 1797-1828. | text | LC Control No.: r 61001036
- Trio in B-flat major, for piano, violin, and cello, op. 97. [Sound recording] (Archduke) Beethoven, Ludwig van, 1770-1827. | text | LC Control No.: r 64001396
- Trio in E-flat major, op. 100. [Sound recording] Schubert, Franz, 1797-1828. | text | LC Control No.: 72765783