Auerbach Weinberg Dvorak Trio Zimbalist

The music of Mieczys?aw Weinberg continues to be issued, and continues to impress. Like his British counterpart, York Bowen, Weinberg was a composer trapped in time and place, and it is good that their very different musics are now coming to the fore with such regularity. One of the wonderful things about this disc, aside from the committed, intense playing of the instrumentalists, is the sound: crisp and clear, with only a very little reverb, which brings the sound of the instruments into sharp focus and makes the listener pay attention to the music.

Piano Trio No. 4, “Dumky”, ranking among Antonín Dvořák’s most celebrated works, is one of the most frequently recorded chamber pieces there is. After attending a performance, with the composer on the piano, Leoš Janáček summed up his impressions succinctly: “A new source of light has flashed.” When it comes to Piano Trio No. 3, the renowned Vienna-based critic Eduard Hanslick called it a gem, demonstrating that Dvořák was “one of the best modern masters”.

The Smetana Trio continued its survey of Czech piano trios with this 2007 Supraphon disc coupling works by Antonin Dvorák, Bohuslav Martinu, and Zdenêk Fibich. As with the earlier discs in this series, the Smetana performs with equal measures of independence and interdependence. Each player has his/her own approach to the music and to the instruments. Violinist Jana Vonáskova-Nováková and cellist Jan Pálenícek don't always agree on the size of their vibratos, for example, and pianist Jitka Cechová doesn't always agree with string players on the inflection of rhythmic accents.

Russian Roots is the Trio Gaspard's debut recording for Chandos records, for which they are joined by soprano Katharina Konradi for a diverse and rewarding program that explores the Russian influence across almost 200 years of music. A selection of Russian folksongs set by Beethoven, Shostakovich's first Piano Trio, his Seven Romances on poems by Blok and Weinberg's Jewish Songs form the backbone of the recital. These are interspersed with Vocalises (wordless songs) by Stravinsky, Rachmaninoff, Gubaidulina and Auerbach.