The Art of Tenderness invites listeners into a world where stillness, warmth, and expressive detail come to the fore. This thoughtfully curated program brings together three master musicians in a sequence of works that reveal how delicacy and emotional nuance can coexist with depth, power, and expressive freedom.

The concert opens with Pierre Gaubert’s Pièce Romantique — a luminous, single-movement gem in which flute, cello, and piano intertwine in gentle lyricism and glowing colour. Brahms’ Intermezzo in A major, Op. 118 No. 2 follows: one of his most cherished late works, offering a moment of profound reflection and inward beauty.

Shostakovich’s Cello Sonata in D minor, Op. 40 provides a striking contrast. This major 20th-century masterpiece carries an emotional landscape that moves from elegance to volatility, from contemplation to spirited energy. Julian Smiles and Jean-Bernard Marie bring this richly layered score to life with intensity and insight.

After the interval, Francis Poulenc’s Sonata for Flute and Piano introduces a work of refined wit, lyric elegance, and unmistakable French character. Beneath its playful surface lies a music of great sensitivity and introspection. By turns tender, melancholic, and luminous, Poulenc’s sonata reveals the intimate expressive dialogue between flute and piano at its most personal and poetic.

The program concludes with Bohuslav Martinů’s Trio for Flute, Cello and Piano, a work of surprising charm and rhythmic buoyancy. From its vibrant opening movement to the atmospheric Adagio and the spirited Allegretto scherzando, Martinů’s trio offers a radiant and uplifting finish.

The Art of Tenderness is a celebration of musical sensitivity — a concert that embraces the quiet power of expression, the beauty of restraint, and the luminous colours of this intimate chamber ensemble.

Performers

• Bridget Bolliger — flute

• Julian Smiles — cello

• Jean-Bernard Marie — piano

Program

Pierre Gaubert (1879–1941)

Pièce Romantique

for flute, cello and piano

(8 minutes — single-movement work)

Johannes Brahms (1833–1897)

Intermezzo in A major, Op. 118 No. 2

for solo piano (≈6 minutes)

Dmitri Shostakovich (1906–1975)

Cello Sonata in D minor, Op. 40

for cello and piano (25 minutes)

I. Allegro non troppo

II. Allegro

III. Largo

IV. Allegro

Interval

Francis Poulenc (1899–1963)
Sonata for Flute and Piano (≈12 minutes)

I. Allegro malinconico
II. Cantilena (Assez lent)
III. Presto giocoso

Bohuslav Martinů (1890–1959)

Trio for Flute, Cello and Piano (20 minutes)

I. Poco allegro

II. Adagio

III. Allegretto scherzando