Burning through the Cold
Dmitri SHOSTAKOVICH (1906-1975)
Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor, Op. 67 [26:53]
Arno BABADJANIAN (1921-1983)
Piano Trio in F-sharp minor [23:14]
Aram KHACHATURIAN (1903-1978)
Sabre Dance from Gayaneh (arr. for piano trio by Ruben Asatryan) [2:11]
Sergei RACHMANINOV (1873-1943)
Vocalise, Op. 34, No. 14 (arr. for piano trio by Gayane Hakhnazaryan / Z.E.N. Trio) [6:18]
The Z.E.N. Trio
rec. November 2019, The Friary, Liverpool, UK
DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON 4855046 [58:36]
The Z.E.N. Trio – Chinese pianist Zhang Zuo, Korean-American violinist Esther Yoo and Armenian cellist Narek Hakhnazaryan – was established in 2015. They met as members of the BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist scheme. The name comes from the initials of the players but they do say that it ‘also represents the philosophy with which they approach chamber music making – the forgoing of the self for total togetherness’. All three artists pursue solo careers, too.
The trio have performed for BBC Radio 3 broadcast, and appeared in recitals domestically and Europe. In 2017 they released an album on Deutsche Grammophon with two repertoire staples, Brahms’s Piano Trio No. 1 Op. 8 and Dvorak’s Piano Trio Op. 9 Dumky, plus an arrangement of Brahms’s Hungarian Dance No. 6. The contrasting scheme of this follow-up album is more to my taste. Two main works are Shostakovich’s well-recorded Piano Trio No. 2 and Babadjanian’s piece which, although recorded several times, is seldom encountered in performance. The fillers are arrangements for piano trio of two enduringly popular short works: Rachmaninov’s Vocalise and Khachaturian’s Sabre Dance. I assume the title Burning through the Cold refers to Khachaturian, Shostakovich and Babadjanian having to work through the merciless brutality of the Stalin Soviet era.
Shostakovich wrote his Piano Trio No. 2 in 1944 during the war, when he stayed at the Soviet composers’ resort in Ivanovo. Although far from the front-line, Shostakovich was devastated by the death in action of his promising young protégé Benjamin Fleischmann, and later by the death of his close friend, the influential Ivan Sollertinsky, which hit him especially hard. The world première took place in November 1944 in Leningrad with Shostakovich at the piano, at one of the first concerts after the terrors of the siege which lasted close to nine-hundred days.
The Z.E.N. Trio play convincingly. The performance has undoubted sincerity that seems to go right to the heart of the score. Following a mysterious, rather ominous introduction, there is a resounding melancholy of the writing. The opening Andante reminds me of the cold, barren landscapes laid waste, a frequent response to Shostakovich scores. Taking over where the first movement left off, the extrovert Allegro con brio has a frenetic and willful quality. A series of despairing piano chords opens the Largo that evokes an aching sorrow and longing with the pain of solitude which can certainly leave a lump in the throat. In the final Allegretto the buoyant and playful character of a Jewish klezmer folk dance is a parody, and with the players create a perceptibly mordant undertow. I like it how the Z.E.N. do not overstate the effect of the klezmer dance, which works well without resorting to astringency.
Few performances of the Trio produce the same level of acute tension as the outstanding 1995 Berlin recording by Borodin Quartet members with pianist Elisabeth Leonskaja. Coupled with the Piano Quintet Op. 57, the Teldec recording has been reissued on Warner Elatus (review). Warner Classics has another reissue of the Leonskaja/Borodin account of the two pieces on its Teldec Ultima series as a double album also with String Quartets Nos. 1 and 15. I admire that recording but this new account is top-drawer too, and deserves to be included in the premier division of the work’s recordings.
The Soviet-Armenian composer and talented pianist Arno Babadjanian (spelling variants include Babajanyan, Babajanian and Babadzhanyan) was Shostakovich’s younger contemporary. He entered the Yerevan Conservatory when he was only 7, and continued his studies at the Moscow Conservatory with Vissarion Shebalin who was a music professor, later director at the Conservatory. Armenian folk music and folk legend are strong influences on Babadjanian’s music. His general approach to composition has been compared to Rachmaninov’s and Khachaturian’s but then his music became far more progressive, leading to his use of twelve-tone serialism.
In 1950, Babadjanian returned to Yerevan where he taught at the Conservatory until 1956. He composed his three-movement Piano Trio in F-sharp minor in 1952. At the Moscow premiere with the composer, David Oistrakh and Sviatoslav Knushevitsky, the work garnered instant praise. Musicologist Wolfgang Stahr’s essay describes the Piano Trio as ‘an anachronistic piece’. It brings to mind the pre-First World War generation of late-Romantic composers, and has associations with Armenian folk music.
The opening predominantly reflective Largo is peaceful and content. The booklet essay says that the movement ‘occasionally sounds like Armenian Impressionism’. In the central Andante it is easy to imagine the unremitting and anguished theme of love and loss. The writing takes on a predominantly robust and assertive character in the Finale - Allegro vivace; the players produce well managed rhythmic energy, and although there is a kinder, more reserved theme, a climate of threat is never far away. I heard the piece for the first time, and I applaud the absorbing performance by the Z.E.N. Trio. There are several recordings in the catalogue: by the Potch Trio on Delos (review), Trio de L’Île on Divine Art (review) and Trio Aeternus on Toccata (review).
Armenian composer Aram Khachaturian was one of the most acclaimed composers of the Soviet era. His last act of ballet Gayaneh, premiered 1942, includes the Sabre Dance. This short piece has become a chestnut. The Z.E.N. perform Ruben Asatryan’s splendid piano trio arrangement in an exciting, near-breathless drama as dancers flaunt their expertise with sabres.
The album closes with Rachmaninov’s Vocalise, another beloved classic, the last of his Op. 34 set of fourteen Songs/Romances. The arrangement, prepared by Gayane Hakhnazaryan (the cellist’s mother) and by the Trio themselves, works impressively. The engaging performance does full justice to this haunting and meltingly beautiful piece.
The first-class sound is pleasingly clear and well balanced. Wolfgang Stahr’s essay What music should be is a worthwhile read. This is a most desirable release, with splendidly co-ordinated, stylish playing and convincing levels of expression. The ensemble should be justly proud of such accomplished performances, a credit to their musicality.
Michael Cookson
