Complete Piano Trios Vol. 4

Van Baerle Trio

17,9928,49
Clear
Original Recording Format: DXD
Learn about choosing Quality and Channels

Beethoven’s most famous piano trio is dedicated to the Archduke Rudolph, himself an accomplished musician. The importance of Rudolph as a patron can be seen in the number of other prominent works that Beethoven dedicated to him. Beethoven started work on the trio in the second half of 1810, but much of the work was done in March of the next year. Some descriptions give an inkling of how novel a composition this was perceived to be, and a young Ignaz Moscheles reported: “In the case of how many compositions is the word ‘new’ misapplied! But never in Beethoven’s, and least of all in this, which again is full of originality.”

A year after the Archduke, Beethoven wrote another piano trio in B-flat major. The autograph dates it 26 June 1812, but besides the similarity in key it is different in every way. It consists of a single movement, was not published during the composer’s lifetime, and was written to encourage the nine-year-old Maximiliane Brentano in her piano playing.

The Trio in E-flat WoO 38 might have been once intended to be part of op. 1 and although there are no extant sketches to support this, the style of the composition makes a dating of around 1790-1 plausible. The trio contains some surprising twists and turns, particularly in its lengthy codas.

The last piece for piano trio that Beethoven published during his lifetime has one of the longest compositional histories of all of his works. It consists of a long introduction, followed by ten variations on ‘Ich bin der Schneider Kakadu’ from Wilhelm Müller’s popular opera Die Schwestern von Prag. The first version of this piece was probably composed between 1801 and 1803, but it was substantially revised in 1816, and most likely further revised before publication in 1824.  This final trio therefore includes elements from Beethoven’s early, middle, and late styles.

Tracklist

Please note that the below previews are loaded as 44.1 kHz / 16 bit.
1.
Piano Trio in B-flat Major, Op. 97 'Archduke' - Allegro moderato
21:30
2.
Piano Trio in B-flat Major, Op. 97 'Archduke' - Scherzo. Allegro
10:37
3.
Piano Trio in B-flat Major, Op. 97 'Archduke' - Andante cantabile, ma per? con moto
11:01
4.
Piano Trio in B-flat Major, Op. 97 'Archduke' - Allegro moderato
07:11
5.
Allegretto in B-flat Major, WoO 39 - Allegretto in B-flat Major, WoO 39
05:26
6.
Piano Trio in E-flat Major, WoO 38 - Allegro moderato
04:34
7.
Piano Trio in E-flat Major, WoO 38 - Scherzo. Allegro ma non troppo
04:58
8.
Piano Trio in E-flat Major, WoO 38 - Rondo. Allegretto
05:12
9.
Variations on 'Ich bin der Schneider Kakadu', Op. 121a - Variations on ?Ich bin der Schneider Kakadu
16:48

Total time: 01:27:17

Additional information

Label

SKU

CC72782

Qualities

, ,

Channels

, ,

Artists

Composers

Genres

,

Mastering Engineer

Bert van der Wolf

Notes

Marten Noorduin

Instruments

, ,

Original Recording Format

Producer

Bert van der Wolf

Recording Engineer

Bert van der Wolf

Recording location

Muziekcentrum van de omroep MCO 1, Hilversum

Recording Type & Bit Rate

DXD

Release DateFebruary 27, 2020

Press reviews

Positive Feedback

It’s rare that one gets to experience a true tour de force, but that is what I’ve enjoyed the past several months with the Van Baerle Trio’s traversal of Beethoven’s complete works for piano trio—a marvellous journey through some of the greatest music ever written. (…) What I can say is that, overall, these are freshly vigorous performances. I love them for their clarity, intelligence, precise ensemble, and joie de vivre. They are not played as historically informed performances (HIP), but the performances certainly have been informed by the HIP movement in their lightness, their direct statement, their lack of over-indulgence. These are largely quick, lithe performances but with a great delicacy of touch. They don’t dawdle, but they linger where the music benefits from attention to that space and quiet between the notes that so greatly adds meaning in the right hands. And these are the right hands, indeed.

Reviews

There are no reviews yet.

Only logged in customers who have purchased this product may leave a review.

More from this label

Currency
Cart