RECORDING OF THE MONTH     CHOPIN Waltzes and Impromptus Vladimir Feltsman £11 post free World-wide VIVALDI The four seasons London Mozart Players/Juritz £12 post free World-wide BEETHOVEN Symphonies 4 and 5 LSO/Yondani Butt £12 post free World-wide

	Frank BRIDGE (1879-1941) Piano Trio No. 1 Phantasie Trio (1907) [17.21] Piano Trio No. 2 (1929) [30.08] Miniatures (1907) [23.37] Dussek Piano Trio rec. St Olave's School, Orpington, 1994. DDD MERIDIAN CDE 84290 [71.23]
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AVAILABILITY www.meridian-records.co.uk This Meridian contrasts with and complements Hyperion's Helios CDH55063 in which the Dartington Trio tackle the same two Bridge trios [see also Black Box where you can listen to samples of the music- LM]. In place of the Dussek's Miniatures the Dartingtons (augmented) offer the more substantial Phantasy Piano Quartet. The two Cobbett-Phantasy works belong to Bridge's early romantic phase; both at the high watermark of rolling exultant lyricism. The Phantasie Trio in particular is a work by which to warm your hands and heart. It is done equally well by Dusseks and Dartingtons with the Dusseks favoured by a slightly cooler ambience which suits the Bergian tendrils of the Piano Trio No. 2 rather more than the Phantasie world. On the other hand the Meridian disc offers greater playing time and the Miniatures are a rare item that no Bridge enthusiast will want to miss. While the Meridian lacks the Phantasy Quartet and thus stays true to its core artists - using a piano trio throughout - the Miniatures are from the same era as the Phantasy Quartet and so are a more uniform choice. These nine pieces have titles six of which are dance-based with a Romance, Intermezzo and March Militaire - the latter finishing the set. Bridge was good at these miniature pieces and did similar things for string quartet, cello and piano and of course acreages solo piano morsels (on four Continuum CDs). The Miniatures are pretty much charming light music: accomplished mood pastels, sighs, vintage antiquery, salon refreshments for conservatory concerts. They are patently more sincere than the gimcrack peddled by some of the lighter British practitioners such as Ketèlbey. The Romance and Valse Russe link to the spattering of Bridge pieces for cello and piano and indeed to Fauré's similar works. Bridge is good at joy - you can hear it breaking out uncontrollably in both the Saltarello and Hornpipe. Rob Barnett see the Frank Bridge web-site Advertising Rates Visitor stats MusicWeb International has over 40,000 Classical CD reviews on offer Discs received Having a problem Donating? Gerard Hoffnung Concerts & The Bricklayer Story   New Releases New Releases   MusicWeb sells the Polish catalogue CDAccord £10.50 post free W-W MusicWeb sells the Arcodiva catalogue £12.00 post free W-W £11.75 post-free world- wide MusicWeb can now offer you discs from the following catalogues: Prices include postage [Acte Préalable £13.50] [Arcodiva £12.00] [Avie from £6.25] [British Music Society £12.00] [CDACCORD from £13.50 ] [ClassicO £12.50] [Hallé from £11] [Heritage £10] [Hortus £14.99 ] [Lyrita ONLY £11.75 ] [Nimbus Special prices] [Northern Flowers £13.50] [REDCLIFFE £11 ] [Sheva £11] [Tactus £11.50 ] [Talent from £12.00 ] [Toccata Classics £10.50 ] Musicweb Special Offers Monthly Best Buys     Google Ads - for information about privacy matters, click here.  Amazon Musicweb International is a participant in the Amazon EU Associates Programme, an affiliate advertising programme designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com

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