Some of Hummel’s trios
have been taken up over the years by
major ensembles – the Borodins have
recorded three for Chandos for instance
– but recently I’m aware of only one
widely available integral set, by the
Parnassus Trio on MDG, who have given
us all seven. The Beaux Arts set of
Nos 1, 3, 4 and 7 on Philips seems now
to have been deleted.
Though they are sometimes
unequal in terms of melodic distinctiveness
the trios are a microcosm of Hummel’s
status as a forward looking, harmonically
adventurous classicist – and it’s above
all his gift for lyricism that elevates
them beyond those chamber works of his
less gifted contemporaries; another
reason why they have retained a hold
in the repertoire. Voces Intimae is
an Italian original instrument ensemble
and they bring new insights in terms
of balance and matters timbral. Though
they begin the Op.22 rather tentatively
this is deceptive; the Allegro moderato
builds up a head of fugal steam and
stately brio is held in check. Similarly
the rustic pizzicatos of the slow movement
– a series of variations – show good
characterisation as indeed does the
elasticated (rubber bandy) sound the
cellist generates in the finale. The
trio does its best for the overlong
and frankly over extended Allegro of
Op.83 but they really score in the finale
where they etch things with immediacy
and colour; some rough edges here and
elsewhere it’s true but the aim is for
immediacy and character.
Op.93 is not as well
known or as often performed as the slightly
later No.7 (Op.96) and its rather inert
fugal sections in the opening movement
can come across as academic rather than
inspired. But I liked this trio’s fleet
tempo for the larghetto with elegantly
reduced string dynamics and much attractive
lyricism. There are occasional recording
inconsistencies in balancing of the
instruments and the notes don’t go into
many specifics concerning the individual
trios but these are relatively minor
matters. Given that these are original
instrument traversals they tend to stand
apart from the Parnassus complete set
but they have the merit of tangy sonorities
and a keen ear for colour.
Jonathan Woolf
Voces Intimae - Riccardo Cecchetti (fortepiano),
Luigi De Filippi (violin), Sandro Meo (cello)
