Piano Trios

The historical-performance movement has extended its reach into much of the 19th century, but this is the world-premiere recording of Robert Schumann's trios on historical instruments. Actually only the piano dates from Schumann's lifetime, but it's especially the violin and cello that differ markedly from their contemporary counterparts with their gut strings. The result is a pair of Schumann chamber music performances of a quieter cast than the common run, yet also moody and full of strong affect and characterization.

The Odeon Trio go for gold. Unlike either the Beaux Arts (Philips) or the Fontenay (Teldec), they use three CDs to include everything by Brahms that could possibly be called a piano trio, not forgetting the Op. 114 and Op. 40 wind trios, whose wind parts can well be rendered by strings. They decide, too, that the original 1853 version of the B major Trio is for them, rather than the revised version of 1889 which is more generally favoured.

Dutch musicians are different. They are absolutely objective, but deeply passionate; completely faithful to the letter of the score, but totally in touch with the spirit behind the score; wholly dedicated to their ensemble, but profoundly individualistic in their expression. In these ways, the Storioni Trio is the epitome of Dutch music-making. On this disc, the Storioni Trio fully inhabits not only the late eighteenth century world of Beethoven's early E flat major Trio Op. 1/2, but also the early nineteenth century world of Beethoven's later D major Trio, Op. 70/1, nicknamed the "Ghost."

These are bold, incisive readings full of youthful ardor. No wilting-violet Schubert here. Ashkenazy, Zukerman and Harrell play with imagination and commitment in both works; there is never a hint of routine, of three virtuosi just going through the motions for the sake of producing a star-studded recording. This has lately become my favored recording of these impoderably and inexhaustibly beautiful trios.

The quality of the recorded sound is so perfectly clear on this recording, like finely etched crystal, while at the same time it is so robust and resonant, that it is difficult to believe that the piano played on these two marvelous CDs is a replica of a 1785 Walter fortepiano, a smaller and much more fragile instrument than today's modern concert grand pianos.

If you’ve not previously heard of the Sitkovetsky Trio, it’s because this is the ensemble’s recording debut. Formed in 2007 by three young musicians who met at Menuhin School in England, the group won first prize at the International Commerzbank Chamber Music Award just one year later, and then the NORDMETALL Chamber Music Award at the Mecklenburg Vorpommern Festival one year after that in 2009.

Félicien David (1810-1876) (not to be confused with his near-exact German contemporary, violinist and composer Ferdinand David, 1810-1873) was French, and during his life better known for introducing a North-African and Middle-East-inspired exoticism (the so-called “Orientalism”) to choral and opera music (he had made a long journey to these regions from 1833 to 1835) than for his chamber music, paving the way for Delibe’s Lakmé, Bizet’s Djamileh, Gounod’s La Reine de Saba and Lalo’s Namouna.

The Borodin Trio's recording of Mendelssohn's two piano trios was first released in 1985 and reissued in 2009, in time for the Mendelssohn bicentennial. The performances may not be as warmly opulent as fans of the group might like. Fans used to their big-vibrato, heart-on-the-sleeve approach to the trios of Schubert and Brahms could miss the Trio's usual ultra-lush ensemble and super-heated sonority.

This is the second disc devoted by the Chinese-German Trio Parnassus to the chamber music of Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia, the dedicatee of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3. The prince was an aristocratic patron for whom the irascible Beethoven actually had musical respect, noting that he played not "in a princely or royal manner but rather like a competent piano player." Ferdinand, who was killed by Napoleon's troops in 1806, in turn venerated Beethoven, but the strongest tribute to his talent is that as a composer he wrote music that neither aped Beethoven's nor took refuge in Classical models.

"The Abegg Trio, hitherto distinguished for recordings of Beethoven and Brahms Trios, returns - as far as the name is concerned - "to itself" with this recording; this judgment is not just a play on words. Far more, it refers to the recording itself: whereas the Beethoven and Brahms recordings were highly remarkable in themselves, the Schumann interpretation by the three musicians is utterly charming: with its natural flow, musical lan where Schumann intended it, and analytically delicate detail work where the structure requires it.