In a review
recently about some Rubinstein songs I wrote that here was a
composer whose music somehow failed to live up to my expectations
and hopes for it. It’s that last spark of creative genius that
can transform the competent into the exceptional. This pair
of discs might just be the one finally to come up with
the compositional goods. All credit to the heroic Edlian Trio
and the enterprising Metronome for collecting together in one
place for the first time the five Rubinstein Piano Trios. These
are five big and significant works well worth a place in the
repertoire.
First, a little more about Rubinstein – plagiarising my own
previous review - Anton Rubinstein was both prodigious and prodigal,
and together with his brother Nikolai, his influence over the
musical life of Russia in the latter half of the 19th
century is hard to overestimate. Reading a list of his achievements
in his sixty-five years is exhausting enough. In brief, he had
a life-long career – he was 9 when he gave his first public
concert – as a world class piano virtuoso to rival Liszt. He
composed extensively including 14 operas and oratorios, 6 symphonies,
5 piano concertos, over 200 piano works and more than 170 song
settings. He wrote essays and criticisms and founded and was
director of the St. Petersburg Conservatory of Music. This latter
is especially significant in that the lessons were taught in
Russian. Curiously though his own music – perhaps because of
the cosmopolitan itinerant nature of his existence - shows far
less ‘Russian Nationalism’ than many of his contemporaries.
The New Grove makes the following comments; “Rubinstein composed
assiduously during all periods of his life. He was able, and
willing, to dash off for publication half a dozen songs or an
album of piano pieces with all too fluent ease in the knowledge
that his reputation would ensure a gratifying financial reward
for the effort involved” and “As Paderewski was later to remark,
'He had not the necessary concentration of patience for a composer....'”.
Picking up on the anti-Nationalistic element in his music in
the context of the five works here it has to be said that only
one – No.3 in B flat contains much thematic material
that could be termed ‘Slavic’ although the 4th has
music of a windingly eastern character too. Number 3 is also
the same trio which – relatively – has been most recorded; a
rather cursory search of back catalogues shows at least two
other Russian-sourced recordings. Here’s another thought; with
the exclusion of the two Rachmaninoff Trios why is it
that the piano trio form exercised pre-Revolutionary Russian
composers so little. Single trios abound by all manner of composers
– did Glazunov really not write a single original work for this
combination? - but few returned to this line-up with any regularity
– except for Rubinstein. And in no small part that is what makes
this collection both so valuable and so interesting. The early
pair of Op.15 trios date from Rubinstein’s early 20s and the
final C minor from just over a decade before his death some
32 years later. A particular word of praise at this point to
the liner-note written by Calum MacDonald. He achieves an ideal
balance between analysis, historical insight and obvious enthusiasm.
Likewise, the Edlian deserve an ovation for the sheer task of
committing so much by definition unfamiliar and hard music to
disc. All five trios are marked by considerable technical difficulty
for all the players and it is to their great credit that the
technical hurdles are so successfully overcome and the spirit
and indeed grandeur of much of the music is so well caught.
Bear in mind that these two discs – which run to a total playing
time of well over two and a half hours – were recorded over
a four day period. Assuming six hours recording on each of the
four days it means that twenty minutes of ‘new’ material had
to be laid down at each and every session. That is roughly what
an orchestra expects to record – for a chamber group with the
extra demands of individual technical perfection and analytical
sound this is a huge ask. That the energy and concentration,
let alone anything else, are so well maintained is of massive
credit to the players.
So to the actual music. The first two trios are a contrasting
pair written as Rubinstein’s Op.15 in F major and G minor. A
black mark for some careless proofing by Metronome; listing
No.2 as G major in the liner and on the CD cover – not surprisingly
though MacDonald gets it right in his notes. Written when Rubinstein
was in his early twenties and travelling around Europe they
were conceived as both a tribute to his Germanic musical Gods
and as a vehicle for his own extraordinary piano technique.
The fascination of the five trios together is how the music
marks his development compositionally from a style one might
term ‘muscular-Mendelssohn’ into something altogether bigger-boned,
perhaps ‘Brahms with bravado’ if one wishes to stick in alliterative
allusion mode for the moment. Mendelssohn’s 1st piano
trio is closer than one might instinctively guess in calendar
terms – written in 1839 just twelve years before the first Rubinstein.
The homage is clear but in this work Rubinstein is able to create
something more individually his own. The very opening is a good
sample of what is to come – both compositionally and in terms
of these performances. There is a lovely fluency, a memorable
lyricism, that is instantly appealing and serves the music very
well [CD 1 track 1]. In the same movement try also the second
subject (starts around 2:12) which is a memorably gentle swinging
theme passed between the two string players. Aside from the
famous Melody in F – to be honest this shares something
of the same salon heritage – I’m not sure I’ve heard a tune
by Rubinstein that is as instantly appealing as this.
I’m not wholly convinced by the engineering of these discs.
For my own taste the balance is a little too close which makes
it hard for the dynamic range of the playing to register without
the louder ones. Violinist Charlotte Edwards plays with a very
sweet almost gentle tone that suits the earlier trios in particular
although this does not pay quite such rich dividends in the
bigger-boned writing of the later trios. Ann Lines (cello) plays
throughout with a wonderfully rich, warm and even tone and rock-solid
intonation that suits the music perfectly and is vital in works
where the string lines often double each other. All praise too
to pianist Tatiana Andrianova whose part carries the bulk of
the unrelentingly virtuosic passage work. I imagine that the
initial impetus to perform this music came from her – quite
literally there are a huge number of notes here for her to learn!
Initially I was rather put off by the prospect of a sequence
of some nineteen movements where the term moderato occurs
ten times – which does not take account of any of the out-and-out
‘slow’ movements. Moderato in all things seemed to promise some
rather dull fare. Far from it, Rubinstein finds far greater
variety than the term might suggest. The second movement of
this first trio – turns out to be a miniature theme and variations
for example. To be honest none of the rest of this first work
appeals quite as much as the opening but it’s an auspicious
start. The companion G minor work, although one presumes written
at the same time is already spreading its musical wings; the
minor tonality making for an immediately more stormy and dramatic
work. Here Rubinstein adopts the four movement format that was
to serve for all of the remaining works. The opening might be
yet another Moderato but this a powerfully surging movement
– I love the way the strings – Ann Lines’ cello in particular
- ‘ride’ the waves of piano passagework near the close [CD 1
track 4 7:10]. After the stormy drama of this opening Rubinstein’s
first not-moderato is a beautiful Adagio. For once the
piano is allowed the slightly more relaxing task of a relatively
simple accompaniment of the duetting strings. The trio have
achieved a very good balancing of the parts here. Another characteristic
of these trios is that each is longer than the preceding one
with the last two effectively tied in length. One small caveat
to that observation though; I think I am right in saying that
the Edlian made some judicious cuts to ensure the five trios
could be fitted on a pair of extremely well-filled discs. My
feeling is that this was a pragmatic and wise move on both musical
and economic grounds. Not having access to scores I cannot be
certain as to where and by how much these works have been cut.
But I should stress that in no sense could any listener feel
short-changed and certainly the proportions of neither movements
nor works have in any way been compromised.
By the time Rubinstein came to write his third trio only seven
years later the romantic stakes were already being upped. Certainly
the piano writing seems to be reaching new levels of romantically
turbulent virtuosity. All of which pianist Tatiana Andrianova
performs with great aplomb. Again I’m not sure the recording
helps much – for some reason although the instruments feel close
the detail remains obscured. This was the work where I started
to feel that the violin playing while technically accomplished
somehow lacked the last ounce of bravura muscle that might benefit
the music. But once again I was swept away by the sheer quality
of the actual music. This is far more consistently interesting
and involving music than I have heard before from this composer.
The slow movement Andante [track 9] has much more of
a lyrical Slavic melancholy that Rubinstein seems to have consciously
avoided elsewhere I particularly like the central choral-like
passage [2:50] where the cello sings sombrely over Beethovenian
(Archduke-like?) chords on the piano. I find the Scherzo
of this trio less interesting; the 6/8 – 3/4 alternating
is not that novel and probably overworked here. Dvorák is able
to find much more earthy folk-derived interest from the same
rhythmic trick in his chamber music. The Finale immediately
grasps one attention with a confidently striding string theme
over ever more complex and demanding piano writing. Throughout
the movement the music is excitingly flamboyant and it makes
a powerful conclusion to the first disc. This is well played
by the trio but again I feel the recording doesn’t allow the
music to open out – there is an odd sense of constriction or
flatness to the sound with a slightly synthetic sounding resonance/ambience
‘behind’ the instruments. I know I have mentioned this several
times now but I would not want to give the impression that this
detracted enormously from my delight in the music or the music-making,
just that perhaps both deserved better; this is average engineering
at best.
Calum MacDonald is quite correct I am sure to note that the
thirteen year gap [oddly he writes twenty years having dated
the 3rd trio as 1857 and the 4th as 1870….?]
before the next trio saw Rubinstein develop greatly as a composer
and I also agree with him that the 4th Trio is the
most original and ambitious work of the set. The opening has
a sinuous freedom that is more original than anything that has
come before which although it is very enjoyable is rarely original.
The style of the music tests the bounds of trio writing too
– there is a symphonic almost epic sweep here that is very compelling.
The second movement is yet another Moderato but this
really is not! I like MacDonald’s description; ‘a kind of wild,
even jauntily demonic Russian dance’. That’s a perfect analogy;
all the more curious for the very gently reflective piano-led
trio which is about as far from the opening mood as it would
be possible to go. Again, Anne Lines’ cello playing is irresistibly
soulful – the mood broken by a pounding return to the opening
material by the piano. This is a tour de force for all
concerned and a highlight of the pair of discs both musically
and in performance [CD 2 track 2]. The Andante that follows
sensibly allows some gentle calm into the work which to this
point has been strong on drama. Even here, after some 3:00 Rubinstein
cannot resist returning to more turbulent writing. Impressive
in its own terms – and again well played – I did just wonder
on a musical/structural level whether the whole trio might not
have benefited from an extended reflective slow movement at
this point? The final section of the movement where a simple
walking piano bass part supports a lyrical duet – literally
song-like – in the strings is very beautiful and a neat instrumentational
touch too with the violin playing the lower harmonised line
to the cello’s beautiful lead melody. There’s a cracking finale
too – foot to the floor drama, obsessively repetitive piano
figurations energising bravura string writing. By the end of
this work a lie-down in a darkened room seems obligatory for
all concerned. This really is a work that deserves far greater
fame – I can imagine it being a sensation in live performance
if utterly shattering for the players! I would still like to
be able to hear more of the detail of Andrianova’s superbly
powerful yet articulate playing but she provides exactly the
kind of engine-room drive this music demands. For a work nominally
in a major key this has been dark and stormy stuff so when the
clouds finally lift [disc 2 track 4 around 7:00] there is a
real sense of light and release and the strings surge out with
a thrillingly joyful (and demanding) climax.
Another thirteen years passed before the final trio and Rubinstein’s
continuing compositional progression is clear. This trio opens
with music altogether less confident in itself, more questing
and as such probably more interesting than the certainties of
the youthful Op.15’s – as I wrote before, that is a major part
of the interest of this set; the audible development of Rubinstein
as a composer. Even the, by now familiar, stormy music that
follows is less able to sustain its energy. Not that I mean
Rubinstein is not capable of maintaining the momentum;
it is that he is trying for something structurally less obvious
and simple. This is another substantial movement – the second
longest as recorded running to just over thirteen minutes. It
is less of an obvious crowd-pleaser than the comparable movement
in the 4th Trio as much as anything because the chromaticism
of the material makes for less instantly engaging melodies.
My sense is that this is a work that will benefit from the greater
familiarity repeated listenings will bring. Certainly, it is
hard to follow the musical argument without a score – the music
feels more sectionalised than the through-sweep Rubinstein achieved
elsewhere in this set. In this final trio Rubinstein opts to
dispense with a central scherzo/slow movement format preferring
instead a pair of contrasted intermezzi – his final two moderate
Moderatos in fact. I was a little surprised that this
music returns to the simpler vocabulary of some of Rubinstein’s
salon-style music with an oddly mundane “um-cha, um-cha” shape
to the accompaniment. There are more lovely opportunities to
appreciate the quality of Ann Lines’ beautiful cello playing
although the angular awkward descants in the fiddle part would
have benefited from another take. The second of the two intermezzi
[CD 2 track 7] is altogether more impressive and again MacDonald
is perceptive in his note remarking on the debt to Bach, a composer
Rubinstein almost always programmed in his own recitals. This
is a lovely movement and it gets the exactly the kind of passionately
restrained performance it needs. To be honest it comes as something
of a relief after the high-powered complexities of so much of
the previous music. The ending of this movement is possibly
the single most original musical effect in the set – a ghostly
rippling descent by the piano disappearing into the depths over
a sustained mournful string chord leading to one final Bach-like
chorale figure. The last movement is a true Allegro. This does
feel like a summation of all the works that have gone before
which – again exactly as MacDonald points out – for all its
minor key tonality seems to have a valedictory confident visage.
A curious Bachian fugal figure interrupts the inexorable progress
but then Rubinstein shows his compositional skill by combining
that figuration with the opening striding melody. Again, Rubinstein
writes music that is more blatantly episodic and even discursive
so it is hard not to feel that this final trio lacks the fluency
of the work that preceded it. I do not know where this came
in the recording schedule but there are some intonation slips
in the horribly finger-twisting and exposed passage-work that
needed a little more preparation. The final arrival into a heroic
C major coda makes for a suitably grand end to a very impressive
sequence of trios.
As I think one of my reviewing colleagues recently wrote; obscure
and forgotten music is often obscure and forgotten for good
reason. However, I would have to say not here – such is the
instant appeal of this music. I really cannot imagine why it
has not retained its place in the repertoire or at least on
the edges of it. Great praise and thanks to the redoubtable
Edlian Trio for producing performances of such conviction and
skill. If you have any interest in Romantic Piano Trios this
set is well worth investigating.
Nick Barnard
Comment received
Posted by Eric Schissel on December 2, 2010,
Nick Barnard, in his mostly positive review of the Rubinstein
piano trios on Metronome, suggests the piano trios may have
been cut. This is indeed the case, and a partial comparison
of the performed music has been done (not by me) with the scores
here -
http://www.unsungcomposers.com/forum/index.php/topic,622.msg9671.html#msg9671
Comment from Nick Barnard
Gosh, that's a very detailed listing of the cuts made. I think
it relevant to underline the fact that at no time, by ear alone
does one have any sense of a musical/formal inbalance and that
if recorded complete this would have required a third disc which
might well have proved to be a cost-increasing disincentive
for the casually interested curious listener. My instinct from
previous exposure to the full unexpurgated Rubinstein (I'm thinking
the full version of the Ocean Symphony here) is that concision
was not always his trademark! Perhaps the team here have helped
by tightening up some potentially verbose passages. I do think
it should have been made clear though that these are cut performances
- at least the purchaser then knows what they are buying into
and also it makes an interesting note to see why 6 bars here
or there were cut. These tiny cuts must be to do with un-needed
repetition I imagine.
The Edlian Piano Trio (Tatiana Andrianova (piano); Charlotte Edwards
(violin); Ann Lines (cello)) 
