Reference Recording - This One!
Sound Quality: 10
Artist Quality: 10
"It seems that Dvorák′s four piano trios are finally coming into their own on disc, and it′s about time. The F minor Trio Op. 65 in particular gets my vote as the finest work in the medium since Beethoven, and the two early ones count among Dvorák′s most successful youthful productions. This second volume in the ABEGG Trio′s complete survey stands as one of the most lovely chamber music recordings that I have ever heard. The magnificent F minor Trio simply glows. The playing is so well balanced and so rhapsodically free, but at the same time finely detailed. Cellist Birgit Erichson phrases the first movement′s second subject with gorgeous, lyrical abandon, and the development section′s passionate climaxes have all the necessary intensity at no sacrifice of tonal beauty. Even more impressive: the players consistently maintain buoyant, aerated textures without compromising rhythmic precision. This pays huge dividends in the central movements, permitting the scherzo′s cross-rhythms and the Poco Adagio′s heartfelt simplicity of phrasing to emerge with effortless clarity. The early trio in G minor offers the same felicitous combination of virtues as the larger work, and Tacet′s sonics are marvelous. These performances are very different from the Suk Trio′s earthier, more heavily inflected performances (for Supraphon and Denon), but no less valid, and in fact represent a major contribution to our understanding of these endlessly inventive pieces. A magnificent achievement."
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Sound Quality: 10
Artist Quality: 10
"It seems that Dvorák′s four piano trios are finally coming into their own on disc, and it′s about time. The F minor Trio Op. 65 in particular gets my vote as the finest work in the medium since Beethoven, and the two early ones count among Dvorák′s most successful youthful productions. This second volume in the ABEGG Trio′s complete survey stands as one of the most lovely chamber music recordings that I have ever heard. The magnificent F minor Trio simply glows. The playing is so well balanced and so rhapsodically free, but at the same time finely detailed. Cellist Birgit Erichson phrases the first movement′s second subject with gorgeous, lyrical abandon, and the development section′s passionate climaxes have all the necessary intensity at no sacrifice of tonal beauty. Even more impressive: the players consistently maintain buoyant, aerated textures without compromising rhythmic precision. This pays huge dividends in the central movements, permitting the scherzo′s cross-rhythms and the Poco Adagio′s heartfelt simplicity of phrasing to emerge with effortless clarity. The early trio in G minor offers the same felicitous combination of virtues as the larger work, and Tacet′s sonics are marvelous. These performances are very different from the Suk Trio′s earthier, more heavily inflected performances (for Supraphon and Denon), but no less valid, and in fact represent a major contribution to our understanding of these endlessly inventive pieces. A magnificent achievement."
<< back