Édouard LALO (1823-1892)
Piano Trio No.1 in C minor, Op.7 (1850) [21:42]
Max BRUCH (1838-1920)
Piano Trio in C minor, Op.5 (1859) [18:43]
Felix MENDELSSOHN (1809-1847)
Piano Trio No.1 in D minor, Op.49 (1839) [30:06]
Petrof Piano Trio
rec. November 2012, Sound Studio HAMU, Prague
NIMBUS ALLIANCE NI 6219 [70:43]
The three piano trios in this recital were written within a two-decade period
by composers none of whom had yet reached thirty. Lalo’s C minor trio dates
from 1850 and whilst different from, seems predicated on Mendelssohnian lines
– not least the D minor trio which is one of the other pieces recorded here.
Lalo writes some strikingly melancholic lines; the trio actually opens with
a cello soliloquy that anticipates some of the tenor of the succeeding music,
which is turbulence modified by wit. Gradually Lalo ratchets the tension,
ending the first movement in a state of high drama. In the Romance
it’s the piano that sets the tone, one of a song-without-words with some contrastive
material that sounds positively jaunty in this performance by the Petrof Piano
Trio. The scherzo hints at a humorous Polonaise whilst in the finale we return
to the trio’s opening mood with an act of lofty symmetry, as the cello recitative,
with which it starts, recalls the trio’s very opening. Powerful motivic material
is conveyed with a real degree of elegance and clarity; a fine performance.
Bruch was in his very early twenties when he wrote his C minor Trio. It’s
a compact, lyrical piece in the three movements that illustrates just how
distinctive were his turns of phrase even then. It’s a work rich in cantabile
and fluid motion, and one which culminates in a surprisingly forceful, indeed
powerful finale, with a strongly attractive stalking theme. The Mendelssohn
is the only true repertoire trio in this recital. The Petrof players bring
a leisurely clarity to it, and they are more inclined to seek out the tranquillo
than the appassionato aspects of the work though they do, it’s true,
bring a degree of animation and considered intensity to bear when necessary,
as in the finale. Tight ensemble is guaranteed here - Jan Schulmeister, violinist
in the Wihan Quartet, is married to pianist Martina Schulmeisterová: and Kamil
Žvak is the excellent cellist. The recorded balance is attractive.
Jonathan Woolf
Elegance and clarity; rich in cantabile and fluid motion.
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