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Smetana / Tchaikovsky: Piano Trios - Vienna Piano Trio

Smetana / Tchaikovsky: Piano Trios - Vienna Piano Trio

MDG Gold  942 1512-6

Stereo/Multichannel Hybrid

Classical - Chamber


Smetana: Piano Trio in G minor Op. 15, Tchaikovsky: Piano Trio in A minor Op. 50

Vienna Piano Trio


Critically Acclaimed
The Vienna Piano Trio in top form! The ensemble’s critically acclaimed recordings of the piano trios of Dvorák, Schubert, Mahler, Schönberg, and Zemlinsky are still fresh in our memory; and now the three musicians are presenting their interpretations of the important trios of Bedrich Smetana and Peter Tchaikovsky.

Personal Secret
Smetana wrote his Trio in G minor op. 15 in a mere two months and performed the piano part at its premiere in Prague on 3 December 1855. The public and critics were not all that enthusiastic, but Franz Liszt was full of praise for it, and Smetana continued to play it in his old age, when he was already completely deaf. His personal secret: in it he expressed his grief for his daughter, who had died in her youth.

Symphonic Extent
It was only by chance that Peter Tchaikovsky learned of the death of his promoter and mentor Nikolai Rubinstein in the autumn of 1881. In deep mourning, he composed his Trio in A minor op. 50, expressly dedicating it to Rubinstein’s memory in the subtitle “à la mémoire d’un grand artiste.” Although the trio consists of a mere two movements, its overall length of some forty-five minutes lends it genuinely symphonic dimensions.

Optimally Arrayed
The Vienna Piano Trio formed by the violinist Wolfgang Redik, the cellist Matthias Gredler, and the pianist Stefan Mendl has regularly performed at most of the world’s prominent concert and festival venues during the some twenty years since its founding. The ensemble is distinguished by the great care with which its members prepare their recordings, with examination of the autograph scores always being included in the preliminaries. “Chamber music in an optimal instrumental lineup; nothing short of perfect” (Radio K1).

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Review by John Broggio - April 24, 2010

A disc of consummate chamber music playing.

Compared to Tchaikovsky: Piano Trio Op. 50 - Stark, Shteinbouk, Belkin, this account is far better in conveying the complete range of emotion that Tchaikovsky calls upon whilst maintaining a technical response that is almost beyond criticism. Taking a slightly more expansive view than some accounts, the Vienna Piano Trio have the symphonic-like structure firmly in their minds in the first movement and vividly convey this to the listener. There are times when it appears to take flight in a way that recalls the grand gestures in the fourth symphony and is played with real passion as well as tenderness as the moment requires.

In the colossal variations that comprise the second movement, the characterisation of each is delightful and yet the very distinction that the Vienna Piano Trio bring to each variation somehow bind each more strongly and closer than other accounts from starrier names. The massive finale and coda is a case in point, in which the Vienna players manage to impress the notion of the ending of the first movement of the fifth symphony.

The Smetana is a very different composition and whilst much shorter and less technically demanding in many ways - the virtuosity is far from the worn-on-sleeve variety called on by Tchaikovsky - it is nonetheless a difficult piece to bring off satisfactorily. With sensible tempo choices throughout the three movements, the Vienna Piano Trio manage to concentrate all their formidable powers of playing to the interpretation. Smetana is a composer where very different opinions about performance are strongly held, so I would encourage those tempted to sample before purchase where possible. It must be said that the affinity of the Vienna Piano Trio is perhaps not quite on the same exalted plane as in the Tchaikovsky but few will have much to quibble about once the whole interpretation has been heard.

The sound is (as usual) one of MDG's 2+2+2 releases. Here there is no congestion or other confusion to worry about but at first listen, the piano in the Tchaikovsky in particular sounds a little brittle. On reflection that appears to be the result of using a bright piano with relatively austere textures that Tchaikovsky employs (they are in some ways reminiscent of the first piano concerto but lacking the orchestra to soften the octave blows!)

Strongly recommended if the coupling suits.

Copyright © 2010 John Broggio and HRAudio.net

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