The Florestan Trio - Dvořák: Piano Trios Nos. 1 & 2 (2008)

  • 26 May, 17:25
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Artist:
Title: Dvořák: Piano Trios Nos. 1 & 2
Year Of Release: 2008
Label: Hyperion
Genre: Classical
Quality: FLAC (image+.cue,log,scans)
Total Time: 67:49
Total Size: 299 Mb
WebSite:

Tracklist:

01. Dvorak - Piano Trio in Bb Op.21 -I- Allegro molto [0:13:30.17]
02. Dvorak - Piano Trio in Bb Op.21 -II- Adagio molto e mesto [0:07:20.23]
03. Dvorak - Piano Trio in Bb Op.21 -III- Allegretto scherzando [0:06:18.36]
04. Dvorak - Piano Trio in Bb Op.21 -IV- Allegro vivace [0:06:00.21]
05. Josef Suk - Elegy in Db Op.23 [0:05:10.11]
06. Dvorak - Piano Trio in G minor Op.26 -I- Allegro moderato [0:11:51.58]
07. Dvorak - Piano Trio in G minor Op.26 -II- Largo [0:05:58.17]
08. Dvorak - Piano Trio in G minor Op.26 -III- Scherzo: Presto - Trio: Poco meno mosso - Presto da capo [0:05:41.52]
09. Dvorak - Piano Trio in G minor Op.26 -IV- Allegro non tanto [0:05:56.28]

Performers:
he Florestan Trio

Dvorák’s two early trios are less popular than the F-minor and Dumky because they supposedly reflect a certain immaturity with respect to handling of form, idiomatic piano writing, and even characteristic melody. Nonsense. Listen to the exposition of the First Trio’s first movement: these tunes would not be out of place coming from Dvorák’s “American” period. They are lovely works, and while I don’t always see the necessity in recording complete cycles, in this case I can only welcome the exposure that these less frequently played pieces are getting. After all, it’s not as if we’re drowning in great 19th-century piano trios.
As with the first disc in this cycle, the performances by the Florestan Trio are models of sensitive chamber music playing. Balances among the three instruments are always well judged; the rhythms in the scherzos are well-sprung, while the slow movements have warmth without schmaltz. Of the two trios, the performance of the First strikes me as marginally finer than the Second in the outer movements, but this is a very subjective impression. One small caveat: violinist Anthony Marwood’s timbre in Suk’s brief Elegy, here sandwiched between the two larger works, could be more alluring above the stave. But this is a tiny drawback in what otherwise is a lovely disc, very well engineered.