MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2023
Approaching 60,000 reviews
and more.. and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             


CD REVIEW

Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger


Buy through MusicWeb for £12 postage paid world-wide.

Musicweb Purchase button

 

Charles-Auguste De BÉRIOT (1802-1870)
Piano Trio No.1 Op.58 (1847) [17:58]
Grand Trio Op.64 (published 1850) [22:50]
Trio Op.4 [11:57]
Nocturne Plaintes de jeune fille [Piano Trio Op.34] (1841) [9:04]
Kuniko Nagata (violin); Mark Drobinsky (cello); Hirotoshi Kasai (piano)
rec. no details given
TALENT DOM 2911 127 [62:44]

Experience Classicsonline


The current exploration of de Bériot’s Violin Concertos on Naxos is one that should prove of interest to those intrigued by the fusion of bel canto lyricism and Paganinian fireworks embodied by these works. Somewhat lower down the hierarchy perhaps are the chamber works and whilst they have never been entirely neglected, they are certainly not popular and even the more assiduous collector of mid-nineteenth century piano trios – in this case – may be hard pressed to have heard a concert performance or put his hands on a recording.

To this end this latest release may fill a need. Let’s take the Op.58 trio written around 1847. It starts with a noble introduction, and then explores more obviously and generously lyric themes. It’s set out well for the instruments. Melodic distribution is adeptly varied and the violin – the composer’s own instrument of course – doesn’t always hog things as one might have expected. In fact the piano is very much primus inter pares. The wistfulness of the opening paragraphs of the central movement are counterbalanced almost immediately by the assertive second theme. After this the finale is high-spirited if a little conventional despite the flourishes along the way.

The Op.64 so-called Grand Trio was published three years later. There is more bel canto here, profuse and warmly aerated and textured. One of the things that keeps this work on its feet and prevents it toppling into easy lyricism is the way de Bériot fuses these lyrical episodes with the Corinthian columns of his emotional architecture – particularly true in the second movement where there is strength and a stoic reserve at work as well as more obviously pliant feelings. The vigorous finale is exciting and splendidly thrown off by the three adept performers.

The early Op.4 trio begins in mock-portentous fashion but opens out with a maestoso flourish. It’s a very compact work with some variations at its heart, which are flattered by some pleasant decorative passages. Even when the violin reasserts the probing big boned portentousness with which the trio started it’s over quickly; the ‘trumpet’ calls to attention suggest a military finale with march dynamism sweeping all before it. The Nocturne Plaintes de jeune fille is something of a playful Schubert tribute – engaging if, let’s be brutal, a bit salon-trivial.

The undated, unlocated performances are big-boned and quite assertive. Prisoners are not taken but the lyric episodes are not stinted. The balance on the whole is usually a just one, if at times things are not quite as deft as they might be. Still, engaging works, strongly projected.

Jonathan Woolf

 

 

 

 


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 


EXPLORE MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL

Making a Donation to MusicWeb

Writing CD reviews for MWI

About MWI
Who we are, where we have come from and how we do it.

Site Map

How to find a review

How to find articles on MusicWeb
Listed in date order

Review Indexes
   By Label
      Select a label and all reviews are listed in Catalogue order
   By Masterwork
            Links from composer names (eg Sibelius) are to resource pages with links to the review indexes for the individual works as well as other resources.

Themed Review pages

Jazz reviews

 

Discographies
   Composer
      Composer surveys
   National
      Unique to MusicWeb -
a comprehensive listing of all LP and CD recordings of given works
.
Prepared by Michael Herman

The Collector’s Guide to Gramophone Company Record Labels 1898 - 1925
Howard Friedman

Book Reviews

Complete Books
We have a number of out of print complete books on-line

Interviews
With Composers, Conductors, Singers, Instumentalists and others
Includes those on the Seen and Heard site

Nostalgia

Nostalgia CD reviews

Records Of The Year
Each reviewer is given the opportunity to select the best of the releases

Monthly Best Buys
Recordings of the Month and Bargains of the Month

Comment
Arthur Butterworth Writes

An occasional column

Phil Scowcroft's Garlands
British Light Music articles

Classical blogs
A listing of Classical Music Blogs external to MusicWeb International

Reviewers Logs
What they have been listening to for pleasure

Announcements

 

Community
Bulletin Board

Give your opinions or seek answers

Reviewers
Past and present

Helpers invited!

Resources
How Did I Miss That?

Currently suspended but there are a lot there with sound clips


Composer Resources

British Composers

British Light Music Composers

Other composers

Film Music (Archive)
Film Music on the Web (Closed in December 2006)

Programme Notes
For concert organizers

External sites
British Music Society
The BBC Proms
Orchestra Sites
Recording Companies & Retailers
Online Music
Agents & Marketing
Publishers
Other links
Newsgroups
Web News sites etc

PotPourri
A pot-pourri of articles

MW Listening Room
MW Office

Advice to Windows Vista users  
Questionnaire    
Site History  
What they say about us
What we say about us!
Where to get help on the Internet
CD orders By Special Request
Graphics archive
Currency Converter
Dictionary
Magazines
Newsfeed  
Web Ring
Translation Service

Rules for potential reviewers :-)
Do Not Go Here!
April Fools




Return to Review Index

Untitled Document


Reviews from previous months
Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details
We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board
Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.