The Florestan Trio's
unfolding Beethoven cycle poses a problem
for the reviewer, though a welcome one:
it's difficult adequately to describe
the essential rightness of their
performances.
These players' command
of the Beethoven style - a precarious
balance between clean-limbed order and
volatile explosions, all contained within
rigorously crafted structures - is thorough
and expertly conveyed. In the sonata-form
movements as well as the variation sequences
- not only Op. 44, but the finale of
Op. 11 - the lyrical themes sing within
the same basic pulse as the forward-driving,
uninhibited allegro sections,
drawing power and dramatic weight from
the composer's sudden harmonic pivots
while maintaining a sense of "Classical"
proportion. In the C minor's third movement,
labeled Menuetto, the minuet-shaped
phrases carry a more scherzo-like temperament;
the Florestans take the full measure
of both these contradictory impulses,
relaxing easily in turn for the unexpectedly
gemütlich Trio section.
The "lesser" Opus 44 variations - Beethoven
deploying his expressive arsenal in
the service of rugged, elaborately imagined
entertainment music - sound as important
as the two "big" trios in this fleshed-out
treatment.
No less importantly,
this ensemble also finds the right Beethoven
sound - as important a component
of interpretation as phrasing or tempo,
but one unaccountably neglected by otherwise
fine artists. The firmly weighted tone
of the piano provides the foundation
for a dark, burnished ensemble sonority,
into which the violin injects a brighter,
more incisive note. (Indeed, pianist
Susan Tomes deserves special mention
for her dazzling, articulate, full-bodied
passagework at all dynamic levels.)
In both trios, the long-breathed themes
of the slow movements - presented by
the piano in the C minor, and by the
dusky 'cello in the B flat major - acquire
their grave dignity as much from the
players' depth of tone as from
their sober interpretive demeanour.
Hyperion's first-class
production, with the resonant ambience
enhancing rather than obscuring musical
detail, ideally complements the superior
performances.
Stephen Francis
Vasta
The Florestan Trio: Anthony Marwood (violin),
Richard Lester (cello), Susan Tomes (piano) 
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