Lekeu’s Trio is something
of a masterpiece. It’s a big, passionate,
surging work lasting a full forty minutes
or so. Maybe, coldly, revision might
make it more programmable in concert.
You could really only put it after the
interval but on disc this isn’t a problem.
And on disc, on this disc, the
work stands revealed, once again, as
the tumultuous Beethovenian thunderclap
that it so assuredly is. The Spiller
Trio throw themselves into it and their
abandon is infectious. Tempestuous and
eventful they lasso the moments of fugal
academism. There are two such moments
and they can sound incongruous – here
they serve to intensify the expressive
argument still further, as intended.
The long and moving piano passage that
opens the slow movement discloses the
Franckian lineage, as do the recurring,
cyclical motifs that give so much compact
and cumulative force to the Trio. However
there’s real tensile strength in the
Scherzo. Here the impressionist fervour
is at its apex and the fugue sounds
nobly embedded into the fabric. The
most specific example of Lekeu’s absorption
of Beethoven (whom he revered) is in
the mysterious Lent section of the Finale.
This is almost Ghost Trio-like
or reminiscent indeed of a slow introduction
in one of the last quartets. Emotionally
and formally it’s perfectly balanced
by the grave conclusion, a feature of
Lekeu’s writing that is so powerful
a component of his expressive argument.
Maybe the recording imparts a bit of
a boom to the piano’s tone, especially
in the bass, but otherwise this is a
splendid traversal by these committed
and adroit players.
It’s coupled with the
unfinished Piano Quartet, the second
movement of which was finished for performance
by d’Indy. Here the trio is joined by
the great Albert Lysy. There’s a bigger
acoustic spread in this performance,
which was taped seven years earlier
than the Trio. It’s also rather more
of a diffuse torso but still compelling
in its imaginative sweep and in the
gorgeous, surging generosity of its
lyricism. The dialogue between violin,
viola and cello over a chording piano
is one of the highpoints of the first
movement and the second is redolent
of high Romanticism at its most affecting.
Both these have obviously
been recorded before. In fact the Quartet
was even on a late Decca 78 set. The
Monnaie Piano Trio play the C minor
trio on Schwann (unheard by me) and
there’s a Harmonia Mundi recording of
the Piano Quartet by the Ensemble Musique
Oblique and both have more Lekeu. But
this coupling is, I believe, unique
- an Arcobaleno release that also offered
them is now out of print. Given the
powerful performances and very reasonable
cost, very strongly recommended.
Jonathan Woolf
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Spiller Trio 
