Max Reger: String Trios No. 1 & 2

In the almost three years since his move from Weiden to the music centre in Munich, Reger had acquired the reputation of an “enfant terrible of German music” with harmonically bold and tonally uncompromisingly becoming song collections, organ and chamber music works. Opus 77, consisting of a Serenade in D major for flute, violin and viola as well as the String Trio in A minor op. 77b, which grew up in April and June 1904 respectively, was intended by the composer to be a work of stylistic change. When Reger composed a further work in this instrumentation eleven years later with the String Trio in D minor op. 141b, the often performed first contribution already served as a reference work of a revived genre. The string trio Il Furibondo was founded in 2011 by violinist Liana Mosca, violist Gianni de Rosa and cellist Marcello Scandelli. They regularly work with renowned early music ensembles, such as “Il Giardino Armonico” or “Le Concert des Nations”. Their repertoire ranges from baroque (played on historical instruments) to music of the first half of the 20th century. Giuseppe Tartini once used the adjective “furibondo” (wild, angry, furious) to describe the performance style of the great violinist Francesco Geminiani. The Trio Il Furibondo attracted attention from the very beginning with extraordinary interpretations, such as his recording of the Bach fugues transcribed by Mozart for the Stradivarius label. Since then, the ensemble has been heard on radio and in concert halls throughout Europe, including Le Settimane Musicali (Merano), Ceresio Estate (Lugano), Milano ArteMusica, Paesaggi Musicali Toscani and Rencontres Internationales Harmoniques (Geneva).