I was more impressed
with this new Trout than I expected,
having read a rather sniffy, dismissive
review in BBC Music Magazine. Fair enough,
Schubert’s evergreen masterpiece has
always been exceptionally well served
on disc so competition is severe. Here
Paul Lewis and his colleagues, who have
already had great success with their
recording of the Mozart Piano Quartets,
dust the work down and give it a fresh
run for its money.
The Leopold Trio often
play on period instruments – as in their
BBC broadcast of the Mozart Divertimento
K.563. Even though they are here on
modern instruments, the approach to
phrasing and articulation has more than
a nod in the ‘historically aware’ direction.
This is apparent from the first A major
flourish, dominated by Lewis’s piano
but nicely balanced with the strings,
who play with a lean tone and only a
smidgen of vibrato. I personally like
the way the extremes of dynamic are
pointed up, as when the players achieve
a true pianissimo at the start
of the development (around 8’33) but
I accept that not everyone will find
the period-style hairpin phrasing to
their liking. I suppose I can see where
the BBC MM critic found it ‘lacking
charm’, but instead I tend to see the
playing as fresh and invigorating. I
notice this is how Gramophone’s Duncan
Druce also sees it, though as he’s a
period violinist it doesn’t surprise
me. The tempo and momentum may well
be too much for some, but they do allow
plenty of time for the andante’s
lovely singing line to unfold, and I
guess the only time I questioned the
slightly aggressive stance was in the
scherzo, although it is marked
presto and has plenty of notated
forte accents, all of which are
forcefully realised.
The famous variation
movement is also brisk, but I have to
say I respond to this playing, especially
Lewis’s crisp articulation in Var.3
(3’24). The finale - minus, as usual,
the exposition repeat - has a no-nonsense
directness which you will like or not,
depending on how genial a smile you
want with your Schubert. Lewis and co
are stylistically light years away from,
say Emanuel Ax and the Guarneris on
budget RCA, though their muddy recording
only serves to highlight the rather
stodgy textures they produce. Give me
clarity and direction over mushy self-indulgence
any day.
In the two Trios, one
of which is no more than a one-movement
fragment, the Leopolds adopt the same
approach, crisp, fleet-of-foot and with
a very keen observance of dynamic light
and shade, and both are wholly delightful.
Superbly clear sonics and a good liner-note
cap what is for me, despite much competition,
a complete winner.
Tony Haywood
Paul Lewis (piano); Graham Mitchell (double bass)
for
details
