Warmly recorded this
disc manages to avoid the pitfalls of
some church acoustics. The Czech Trio
– an august name – now comprises Dana
Vlachová (violin) – not to be
confused with Jana Vlachová of
the (new) Vlach Quartet - Miroslav Petráš
(cello) and Milan Langer (piano), three
distinguished players and all teachers
at the Prague Conservatoire. The programme
is conventional, Mendelssohn and Tchaikovsky,
and there are few idiosyncrasies or
annoying quirks.
The Mendelssohn receives
an attractive performance though somewhat
slower than is the norm. I sense that
the Czech Trio values strength and architectural
solidity over incidental felicity and
to this extent the performance doesn’t
altogether take wing. Some of the phrasing
in the slow movement could be more affectionate,
though the Scherzo is very fluent and
incisive. In the Finale however the
tempo is stern and the playing relatively
unyielding.
I get the feeling that
the Tchaikovsky Trio engaged them rather
more. Compared to the live recording
of the Oscar Shumsky-Charles Curtis-Earl
Wild trio, made in 1979 at Carnegie
Hall and just released by Ivory Classics,
we can hear the Czech Trio’s more veiled
introspection. They catch the lyrical
nostalgia at the heart of the opening
movement whilst also managing to maintain
musical tension and their playing of
the second variation of the second movement
is most elegant. There were moments
when I felt that shaper etching would
have brought greater rewards, such as
the Fugal Variation, No 8. The finale
is cohesive and attractive; they lack
the opulent tonal ensemble of some other
trio pairings but turn in a musical
performance.
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb
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Czech Trio (Dana Vlachová (violin)
Miroslav Petráš (cello) Milan Langer (piano))
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