Tchaikovsky Piano Trio in A Minor

Ideally, a piano trio should be balanced in its voices and the parts more or less equally matched in expression, but it sometimes happens in late Romantic chamber music that an overwrought piano part can create the opposite conditions. In the Trio élégiaque No. 1 in G minor by Sergey Rachmaninov and the Piano Trio in A minor by Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky, the piano is clearly the dominant force, because it carries most of the thematic material, harmonic textures, and dramatic gestures, and thereby reduces the violin and cello to subsidiary roles.

This version of the Tchaikovsky measures up extremely well against its competition; moreover it is (like all chamber recordings from this source) very well balanced. Pianist Stefan Mendl is able to dominate yet become a full member of the partnership throughout. The second movement's variations open gently but soon develop the widest range of style, moving through Tchaikovsky's kaleidoscopic mood-changes like quicksilver and often with elegiac lyrical feeling.

The Geneva Piano Trio was founded by three international awarded musicians, established in Switzerland. Sharing Russian origin and having lived in Geneva for twenty years, they paid tribute to their welcoming city by naming their musical ensemble The Geneva Piano Trio. The recording was done in the famous music room of a Swiss town of La Chaux-de-Fonds (a UNESCO World Heritage site), holding a revolutionary Dolby Atmos technology. For this first CD, the musicians choose to celebrate their cultural roots with trios of Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov.

Tchaikovsky & Smetana: Piano Trios (Vienna Piano Trio 2007)
FLAC (xACT) | With Cue & Log | MD&G Gold #3421512 | 1 CD, 298.6 MB
Classical | Cover, no scans | Rapidshare

The Smetana G minor Trio here makes an ideal pairing for the Tchaikovsky and helps to seal the deal for a winner of a disc. The Vienna Piano Trio encompass both composers’ changing moods with a flowing naturalness to rival much starrier versions. The sound from Dabringhaus und Grimm is also terrific – there’s a real flair to the instruments.

– Gramophone [2/2009]

The combination of Tchaikovsky's Piano Trio in A minor, Op. 50, with Anton Arensky's Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor, Op. 32, is a common one, for the two works were both written as memorials to instrumentalists. Good recordings in the stereo era go back to one recorded by Yefim Bronfman, Cho-Liang Lin, and Gary Hoffman on Sony some years ago, but the present release can stand with such classics. The two trios share an unusual mix of passionate virtuosity and elegiac quality, as if to remember the powers of the deceased player. Tchaikovsky's trio is a massive work, clocking in at well over 40 minutes even at the brisk tempos at which it is taken here.