AVAILABILITY
www.presierrecords.at
This is the fourth
volume that I have reviewed in Preiser’s
invigorating Oistrakh Trio series. Most
seem to have been recorded c1947-49
though no dates or locations are given
in the notes (the sessions were made
in Moscow and originally released on
Melodiya 78s). Apart from Doremi’s Oistrakh
edition you’d have been hard pressed
to come across any of the Trio sides
which, so far as I’m aware, last saw
general service on a series of smaller
labels – Colosseum, Westminster, Monitor
and the like – in the days of LPs. Of
the series that I’ve sampled only one
recording, that of a Schubert trio,
was boxily recorded; the others are
much more valuably forward in the studio
acoustic and that’s the case here.
Oistrakh was a noted
exponent of the Ravel Sonata and Tzigane
– his partnership with Frida Bauer has
preserved his interpretations - and
it’s no surprise that his trio should
prove so persuasive in the Trio. Oistrakh
was a big, romantic player but he could
scale down his playing when necessary
and the lyric delicacy of his phrasing
here is memorable as are the very natural
and discreet warming portamanti that
fleck the opening of the first movement.
Knushevitzky is rock solid, his pizzicati
in the skittish Pantoum perfectly accurate
and Oborin is as ever an ensemble player
of the highest distinction. The heart
of the performance is the Passacaille
that emerges both boldly resonant and
intimately withdrawn, the string players’
husky viola orientated sonority when
playing in unison being especially memorable.
The finale is vibrant and challenging;
ensemble is fine, Oistrakh’s trill is
sustained without hindrance, though
there’s a bit of forte blasting in the
piano statements toward the end.
Rachmaninov’s Trio,
written in memory of Tchaikovsky in
1893, is one of his earliest works.
It’s also plainly emulating Tchaikovsky’s
own Trio, down to the second movement
variations – and also the big, powerful
span - and it lasts fully forty five
minutes in this performance. Oborin
proves himself a master of this big-boned
rhetoric; his opening statements are
beautifully quiescent as the string
players’ lines are attendant upon him.
It’s been a feature of this series that
Oborin’s superiority
as a chamber collaborator becomes more
and more evident. Granted the piano
roots the trio but tonally and in terms
of architecture he’s almost always wise
and sure (I’d only part from the trio’s
Dvořák Dumky in that
respect). The variations thrive on extreme
contrasts, with intensely introspective
unison passages as well as more extrovert
moments, supported by the "pillar"
of the piano’s paragraphal statements.
They scoop this up in a fluid yet convincing
span and deal with the finale’s move
from purposeful drama to sombre loss
with equal acumen. The sound is good
for the provenance.
As with all the other
issues in this series I can warmly recommend
the Oistrakh Trio discs; they’ve been
away too long and their warmth and palpable
expression will always appeal to their
many admirers.
Jonathan Woolf
The
Famous Oistrakh Trio Antonín
DVOŘÁK (1841-1904)
Trio
in F minor Op.65 Trio in E minor Op.90
Dumky 
David Oistrakh (violin) Sviatoslav
Knushevitzky (cello) Lev Oborin (piano)
No recording details
PREISER RECORDS 90593 [73.08] [JW]
We
edge nearer a proper realisation of
those previously tough to find Trio
recordings. ... see Full
Review
The
Famous Oistrakh Trio Nikolai
RIMSKY-KORSAKOV Trio
C major (1897 completed Maximilian Steinberg
1939) Bedřich
SMETANA Trio in G minor Op.15
David Oistrakh (violin) Sviatoslav
Knushevitzky (cello) Lev Oborin (piano)
No recording details
PREISER RECORDS 90595 [66.44] [JW]
Nobility
and depth ... a real drama of the soul
... exciting, touching, grand, affecting
and rapt. ... see Full
Review
