La Muse [Pure DSD]

The crazy thing about String Trios is that they tend to sound fuller with one player less than String Quartets. That sensation is extended here.

On the album La Muse ('The Muse') the Prisma String Trio performs à cordes opus 105 by Florent Schmitt (1870-1958), written in 1944, that even sounds almost like a String Sextet. Voluminous and very intense, beautifully recorded in Westvest90 in Schiedam. A new highlight from the steadily growing catalogue of Cobra Records.

The Prisma String Trio, dating from 2002 and consisting of Janneke van Prooijen, violin, Elisabeth Smalt, viola, and Michiel Weidner, cello, is breaking new ground here. Apart from the level of execution, the programming is certainly also a hit.

In addition to Schmitt's trio, the ensemble also presents a special arrangement of the piano cycle La Muse ménagière ('The household muse') by Darius Milhaud (1892-1974). The result is fresh and impressive.

The Prisma String Trio plays in such a way that the music really grabs the listener. They also display the slow movement expressively with dark colors, while the Rondo takes on an almost burlesque character.

La Muse Ménagère remains so pure and poetic in the string trio version that they touch the listener no less than in the original.

Sit down because this is a recording that encourages you to listen.

The Prisma String Trio of French composer Florent Schmitt – unknown to me until now, who doesn't? -, and consisting of four parts, demands your attention completely from the beginning, partly due to the recording technique used.

Dear Music Emotion reader, don't let this beautiful album from Cobra pass you by,  Listen to this high-carat cut musical diamond by Producer and Recording Engineer Tom Peeters.

This album is presented with the best possible interpretation by the Prisma String Trio. The trio was Founded in 2002 with Janneke van Prooijen violin, Elisabeth Smalt viola and Michiel Weidner cello. It is an exquisite company that does not shy away from progressively composed programs on the concert stage.

The ensemble was recorded with the caring hands of Tom Peeters. He shows in the Schiedam Westvest Church (a now very well-known recording location) how a String Trio really should sound.

This recording is a blessing because of the quality of the Dutch musicians of the Prisma String Trio. But also because of its rarity. The work has not been recorded since the prior version by Trio Pasquier.

This beautiful album La Muse (The Muse) opens with Trio á Cordes by Florent Schmitt. A thorough composition with an enormous string width where there is a lot to get for the attentive listener, who will enjoy more and more with every listen. The Prisma String Trio plays this piece with such organic ease that you almost forget how ingeniously difficult this composition is.

La Muse Ménagère is an intimate work by Darius Milhaud. These compositions, originally written for piano, are endearingly and transparently arranged for String Trio by 4 different musicians. Each part has its own story, an independent musical poetic poem that is excellently performed by the Prisma String Trio.

The Prisma String Trio, founded in 2002, throws itself with verve into Schmitt's trio cosmos. It designs Milhaud's treasures with fine esprit and subtle humor.