Kempf Trio - Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov: Piano Trios (2002)

The Kempf Trio’s bid to distinguish its version of Tchaikovsky’s Trio from the recent surge of new recordings is hampered by an overly generalized, large-scale reading that, at more than 52 minutes, lacks sufficient emotional impact. The main problem is the elegiac first movement, where although the Kempf plays with clarity, sonic beauty, and technical refinement, the music never builds up tension the way it does with the Ashkenazy or Yuval (even the aristocratic Beaux Arts Trio offers more passion in the dramatic transition to the second subject, as well as the development). The second movement seems more suited to the Kempf’s temperament, as the threesome renders the variations with vividly colored, elegantly stated lines.
It’s not until the dramatic coda that the Kempf exhibits the kind of ardor you would have expected to find in the first movement, leaving the impression of a great performance that might have been. In the Rachmaninov, the Kempf’s lucid playing and genuine emotion creates an appropriately gloomy atmosphere for this somber work and makes for a moving close to the program. BIS’s surprisingly over-bright recording places the violin and cello oppressively close while relegating the piano to a cavernous background.