The Bekova Sisters - Rimsky-Korsakov, Mussorgsky: Works for Piano Trio (1999)

In 1897, Rimsky-Korsakov composed the rough draft for a piano trio in C minor. He polished the middle movements to performance level, but it was left to the composer’s son-in-law, Maximilian Steinberg, to reconstruct its outer movements some 30 years after the composer’s death. While Rimsky disparaged the work in his autobiography, its wistful lyricism and operatic scope hold your attention beyond the sometimes stilted interplay between instruments. The Bekova Sisters turn in idiomatic, sensitively dovetailed work, although violinist Elvira’s oily vibrato seems excessively sweet in soft, sustained passages.
Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition has been arranged for umpteen instrumental combinations of all shapes and sizes, but never, to my knowledge, for piano trio until the Bekova Sisters’ collective effort, recorded here for the first time. In essence, it’s Mussorsgky’s solo piano original mostly played intact, with many token interjections from the strings to reinforce accents and point up phrases. The instruments are deployed in a cut and dried manner that hardly taps into the music’s potential for textural interplay. Like Ravel, the Bekovas omit the reprise of the Promenade before the Market Place in Limoges. There are, to be sure, effective touches, like the violin’s spiccato rendition of the quarrelsome repeated notes in Samuel Goldberg and Schmuyle, or the eloquence of the cello declaming Byldo’s gloomy ox-cart melody. A harder-edged attitude toward dynamics would have been welcome, along with a more assertive, daring arranger.

The Bekova sisters, Elvira (violin), Eleonora (piano) and Alfia (cello) have been playing together since childhood in Kazakhstan and after a period of forced separation and persecution in the former Soviet Union are now one of the most celebrated chamber ensembles. "A PR departments delight: the Bekova Sisters attract more praise- can they do no wrong?" captioned the review of the Bekovas Chandos Tchaikovsky Piano Trio recording in Classic CD of July 1999. Praised for the impeccable suppleness and lilt of their rhythm, spotless intonation, subtle interplay, uncanny unanimity, and exemplary judgement of mood and formal perspective, this recording was one of that magazines Choice selections. A similar accolade was bestowed by the BBC Music Magazine selection of their Chandos recording of Martinu Trios as a CD of the year in 1998. The Strad Magazine hailed the Bekova CD of Clarke and Ives Trios as its recording of the month in October 2000 and the same disc was one of Gramophone Magazines Critics Choice for the year 2000. Their recording of the Shostakovich piano trio has been repeatedly regarded as a benchmark performance in Gramophone Magazine and both Martinu recordings were similarly recognised by the same publication in December 2000. The Bekovas are amongst the most recorded of piano trios. In May 1999, Classic CD considered them to be one of the few trios from the current generation who will achieve an enduring reputation in their review of the relative standing of twentieth century piano trios. Gramophone Magazine comments on Bekova recordings include: "Strong, enjoyable, up-front performances from the talented Bekova Sisters."(Grechaninov Trios) "The playing throughout has spirit and dedication."(Martinu Trios) "An account as moving as any and as finely played."(Tchaikovsky Trio) "Stunning"(Clarke/Ives Trios) The Bekovas have performed around the globe since reuniting in London in 1989. Their repertoire includes all the major trios from Haydn to Schnittke as well as having performed and recorded many less familiar works. They have given world premiers as dedicatees of works by David Heath, Michael Finnissy, Steven Gerber, Timur Tleukan and Sergei Zhukov. They have arranged many familiar works for performance by piano trio including Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition and Tchaikovsky's The Seasons. Their concert appearances have ranged from solo virtuoso performances through chamber work with other noted musicians such as Gidon Kremer to concerti with orchestras such as the Moscow Philharmonic and the St Petersburg Philharmonic.