Aug. 22: Sony Classical Releases Fourth Album in Beethoven For Three Series with Emanuel Ax, Leonidas Kavakos, and Yo-Yo Ma
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Emanuel Ax, Leonidas Kavakos, and Yo-Yo Ma
Announce Fourth Album in Beethoven For Three Series on Sony Classical
Symphony No. 1 / Op. 70, No. 1 “Ghost” / Op. 11 Gassenhauer
Symphony No. 1: III. Menuetto. Allegro Molto e Vivace
Out Now | Listen Here
Album Release Date: August 22, 2025
Pre-Order Available Now
Emanuel Ax, Leonidas Kavakos, and Yo-Yo Ma announce the fourth album in their Beethoven for Three series, out August 22, 2025 on Sony Classical and available for pre-order now. Featuring Symphony No. 1 (Op. 21) and the Ghost (Op. 70, No. 1) and Gassenhauer (Op. 11) piano trios, this new recording marks another milestone in three friends’ journey through the marvels of one extraordinary composer. Accompanying today’s album news is the first single – the Minuet from Beethoven’s First Symphony – listen here.
Beethoven for Three features three artists in pursuit of the essential elements of Beethoven's musical language, presenting his most iconic symphonies in trio arrangements. By performing the symphonies on three instruments alongside the composer’s canonical piano trios, the artists give audiences a rare look at Beethoven's compositional language at its most intimate and raw—all while conveying the power and immediacy of his orchestral works.
From the symphony that gave the world its first glimpse of Beethoven's revolutionary voice, carefully reinterpreted for piano, violin, and cello by Shai Wosner, to the singular “Ghost” trio and cheerful “Gassenhauer” trio, this newly-announced recording presents more than a decade of the composer's output and evolution distilled to brilliant fundamentals by the longtime friends, collaborators, and musical explorers.
“We all feel that being able to participate in a symphony is such a wonderful thing to do,” says Ma. “One of the things that has separated people since recording began is the categories that we put people in, in which chamber musicians, orchestra players, people who play concertos, people who do transcriptions, people who compose, people who conduct, are all viewed as separate categories with no overlap. That siloed thinking discourages actual creativity and collaboration between people. And so we feel that one of the things that is really important to do today is to actually go back to the first principles of music, the simple interaction between friends who want to do something together."
Beethoven for Three has its origins in the 2021 Tanglewood Music Festival, where Ax, Kavakos, and Ma first played Beethoven's Symphony No. 2 in trio format. The performance was an instant success, and the first release in the series, Beethoven for Three: Symphonies Nos. 2 and 5, was recorded soon after. Gramophone highlighted their recording of Symphony No. 5, noting that “the performance by Ax, Kavakos and Ma is not just aptly intense—the opening Allegro con brio is as involving as any orchestral performance I've heard—but also incredibly sensitive to the music’s crucial juxtapositions, as one can hear in the Andante con moto, where they so deftly balance delicacy and heroic swagger—note the vulnerability in Kavakos's tone at 1'42"—in a way that I find deeply moving."
The second installment in the project, Beethoven for Three: Symphony No. 6 “Pastorale” and Op. 1, No. 3 was released in 2022 to further acclaim. The Strad noted that "the blend and balance between these three hugely experienced players is just about ideal in the relaxed outer movements [of Symphony No. 6] and in the ‘Scene by the Brook’, while the ‘Peasants’ Merrymaking’ is as rustic and playful as the ‘Storm’ is disruptive...They are just as urbane and sophisticated in the C minor Piano Trio...This is Ax’s stamping ground and he brings his string-playing friends along with him for a performance that beguiles and delights from beginning to end."
Their third, a pairing of the unforgettable "Archduke" trio with his fourth symphony, arranged for piano, violin, and cello by Shai Wosner, was released in 2024. "Ax’s ten fingers provide most of the symphony’s harmonic support, leaving Ma and Kavakos free to concentrate on melodic charms and quirks," wrote The Times. "All unite in ensemble verve and kaleidoscopic hues: qualities that equally mark Beethoven’s Archduke trio of 1811, which follows... intimate chamber music playing doesn’t come much better than this."
Ax, Kavakos, and Ma first performed together as a trio at the 2014 Tanglewood Festival, playing a program of Brahms's piano trios. Their first recording effort, Brahms: The Piano Trios, was released in 2017 to universal critical acclaim; Gramophone observed that "These performances get straight to the heart of Brahms’s music, relishing its pull of opposites," while Limelight noted, "There’s no doubting the ardour that these players bring to the music, which is delivered with an eye to creating broad, sweeping phrases … there are plenty of opportunities to swoon along the way.”
They return to Tanglewood once more on August 3 for an all-Beethoven recital centered on a performance of Symphony No. 3, arranged for piano quartet by Shai Wosner. Also on the program are the Leonore Overture No. 3—also arranged for piano quartet by Wosner—and the "Gassenhauer" trio; violist Antoine Tamestit joins for the Leonore overture and Symphony.
Sony Music Masterworks comprises Masterworks, Sony Classical, Milan Records, XXIM Records, and Masterworks Broadway imprints. For email updates and information please visit www.sonymusicmasterworks.com/.
Beethoven for Three: Symphony No. 1 / Op. 70, No. 1 “Ghost” / Op. 11 “Gassenhauer”
Emanuel Ax, Leonidas Kavakos, & Yo-Yo Ma
Symphony No. 1 in C Major, Op. 21
1 I. Adagio molto - Allegro con brio
2 II. Andante cantabile con moto
3 III. Menuetto. Allegro molto e vivace
4 IV. Finale. Adagio - Allegro molto e vivace
Piano Trio No. 5 in D Major, Op. 70 No. 1, Ghost
5 I. Allegro vivace e con brio
6 II. Largo assai ed espressivo
7 III. Presto
Piano Trio No. 4 in B-Flat Major, Op. 11, Gassenhauer
8 I. Allegro con brio
9 II. Adagio
10 III. Tema: Pria ch'io l'impegno. Allegretto
