MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2023
Approaching 60,000 reviews
and more.. and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             


Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger

REVIEW
RECORDING OF THE MONTH


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 

 

alternatively
CD: MDT AmazonUK AmazonUS

Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750)
Goldberg Variations BWV988 (1742) (arr. Dmitry Sitkovetsky) [74:45]
Leopold String Trio (Isabelle van Keulen (violin); Lawrence Power (viola); Kate Gould (cello))
rec. 5 January, 11-12 October 2010, Concert Hall, Wyastone Estate, Monmouth, UK
HYPERION CDA67826 [74:45]

Experience Classicsonline



The arrangement of Bach’s Goldberg Variations for string trio by Dmitry Sitkovetsky was made in 1985 as part of Bach’s 300 anniversary celebrations, and it has been recorded among others by Mischa Maisky et al on Deutsche Grammophon and given a lukewarm review which incidentally also cites the Leopold String Trio’s Wigmore Hall performance of the same work in 2006 as ‘revelatory’. Another reasonably positive review can be read of the Amati Trio’s recording on Brilliant Classics, though Oleg Ledeniov was less inspired by the arrangement itself. There’s another report on a 2002 live performance of the Sitkovetsky arrangement here, and the overall review index on this work can be found here.

For myself, I have access to a couple of more or less obscure alternatives to this Hyperion version. The Trio ZilliacusPerssonRaitinen produced a nice recording on the Caprice label which has a pleasantly light and transparent quality. The Goldberg-Trio Bonn made a recording for the CAvi label which is richly expressive in the slower movements; at times a bit heavy in the faster variations in a more resonant acoustic. Coviello Classics has the Echnaton Trio, which has its qualities, but could do with being a bit more precise in terms of intonation and is rather earnest in its approach.

Having tuned my ears with these few points of reference, it became easier to see where the Leopold String Trio might find itself amongst the competition. To start with, this is the longest of any of the versions I’ve seen, which means lots of repeats. This might be a cause for concern, were it not for the sense of freedom and inner variation which we hear, even in the opening Aria. Here Isabelle van Keulen uses vibrato as an expressive weapon, colouring certain notes with stylish ornament rather than using it as a technical cover-all. The sense of lively discussion amongst the players in musical terms is brought about through the provision of distinctive character to each of the parts. The criticism of the ‘top, middle, bass’ nature of the arrangement falls away when you hear Lawrence Power picking out the prominent notes in his part, when you hear Van Keulen responding and echoing his lead and vice-versa, and the whole being driven by the positive vibes of Kate Gould’s cello. This last mentioned ‘bass’ instrument is arguably a little more distant in the recorded balance but – as if it were needed – keeps everything as tight as Charlie Watts’ drum-kit.

Character in the playing is what makes this recording that extra bit special. Even where the tempo is at full pelt, such as in Variation 5, there is never any question of anyone scrubbing their way through, and the listener is kept on the edge of their seat – not with a feeling of impending disaster, but in order to pick up every shining detail. The dynamics are special as well, almost vanishingly quiet in Variation 6, but capable of real impact and ‘wallop’ where required. Non-dogmatic and intelligent application of historically informed performance style is an aspect of the playing here, with measured dosages of vibrato as mentioned previously, but with no sense of stylistic stagnation or point scoring. Each variation is given its own atmosphere: dancing in formal patterns; Variation 7, noble and strutting; Variation 10, meltingly simple; Variation 13 and teacup-breakingly boisterous; Variation 14. The pizzicato in Variation 19 is precious and priceless, and all of those crucially significant variations, 21 and 25 for instance, are made points of emotional focus through their beautifully observed touches of extra emotional weight. The penultimate Quodlibet is given a rustic sense of raw energy which is like a refreshing drink after a long journey. Gould’s cello note at the end of this is allowed to decay completely, a masterful touch which acts as the transition to the final return of the graceful Aria.

Hyperion’s engineering is excellent, and the Paul Klee cover Ancient Harmony is another stroke of packaging genius. As I did before starting on the journey, you may wonder if the Goldberg Variations played on a string trio could ever be as good as the best of piano or harpsichord versions. After having heard this recording in depth and while still hypnotised by its spell, I’m beginning to wonder if I ever want to hear it any other way.

Dominy Clements

Masterwork Index: Goldverg Variations

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


EXPLORE MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL

Making a Donation to MusicWeb

Writing CD reviews for MWI

About MWI
Who we are, where we have come from and how we do it.

Site Map

How to find a review

How to find articles on MusicWeb
Listed in date order

Review Indexes
   By Label
      Select a label and all reviews are listed in Catalogue order
   By Masterwork
            Links from composer names (eg Sibelius) are to resource pages with links to the review indexes for the individual works as well as other resources.

Themed Review pages

Jazz reviews

 

Discographies
   Composer
      Composer surveys
   National
      Unique to MusicWeb -
a comprehensive listing of all LP and CD recordings of given works
.
Prepared by Michael Herman

The Collector’s Guide to Gramophone Company Record Labels 1898 - 1925
Howard Friedman

Book Reviews

Complete Books
We have a number of out of print complete books on-line

Interviews
With Composers, Conductors, Singers, Instumentalists and others
Includes those on the Seen and Heard site

Nostalgia

Nostalgia CD reviews

Records Of The Year
Each reviewer is given the opportunity to select the best of the releases

Monthly Best Buys
Recordings of the Month and Bargains of the Month

Comment
Arthur Butterworth Writes

An occasional column

Phil Scowcroft's Garlands
British Light Music articles

Classical blogs
A listing of Classical Music Blogs external to MusicWeb International

Reviewers Logs
What they have been listening to for pleasure

Announcements

 

Community
Bulletin Board

Give your opinions or seek answers

Reviewers
Past and present

Helpers invited!

Resources
How Did I Miss That?

Currently suspended but there are a lot there with sound clips


Composer Resources

British Composers

British Light Music Composers

Other composers

Film Music (Archive)
Film Music on the Web (Closed in December 2006)

Programme Notes
For concert organizers

External sites
British Music Society
The BBC Proms
Orchestra Sites
Recording Companies & Retailers
Online Music
Agents & Marketing
Publishers
Other links
Newsgroups
Web News sites etc

PotPourri
A pot-pourri of articles

MW Listening Room
MW Office

Advice to Windows Vista users  
Questionnaire    
Site History  
What they say about us
What we say about us!
Where to get help on the Internet
CD orders By Special Request
Graphics archive
Currency Converter
Dictionary
Magazines
Newsfeed  
Web Ring
Translation Service

Rules for potential reviewers :-)
Do Not Go Here!
April Fools






Untitled Document


Reviews from previous months
Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details
We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board
Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.