Richard STRAUSS (1864-1949)
Piano Trio no.1 in A, AV 37 (1877) [16:24]
Piano Trio no.2 in D, AV 53 (1878) [26:11]
Ständchen in G, AV 168 (1882) [4:01]
Festmarsch in D, AV 178 (1886) [5:22]
*Two Pieces, for piano quartet, AV 182 (1893) [7:43]
*Concertante in C, for piano quartet, AV 157 (?1875) [2:37]
Amelia Piano Trio (Rieko Aizawa (piano); Anthea Kreston (violin); Jason Duckles
(cello))
*Max Mandel (viola)
rec. Evans Hall, Connecticut College, New London, Connecticut, 8-12 October
2008. DDD
NAXOS 8.570896 [62:24] 
The accompanying notes warn that it would be "a mistake [...] to dismiss
these pieces simply as juvenilia or ephemera", but reviewers have a habit
of describing discs like this, where the featured music is neither original
nor very bold, as "for completists only". The mistaken assumption
made there is that composers are writing to please critics – but, naturally
enough, they write chiefly for themselves and for audiences. Strauss the old
man may or may not have had a soft spot still for these youthful essays of
his, but there is no question that a public brought up on Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven,
Schubert, Mendelssohn and Brahms - probably the overwhelming majority of concert-goers,
if not CD buyers - will greatly enjoy the lyrical beauty and classical proportions
of these appealing Viennese sweetmeats. A lack of depth or conventionality
of imagination can be ascribed to the fact that these are mainly the works
of a young teenage boy - and that boy's melodious music can then be marvelled
at for the selfsame reason. What uncontested masterpieces Strauss produced
in later life is neither here nor there: this CD will appeal to anyone looking
in an unusual place for something tuneful and undemanding.
The Piano Trios are the more significant works. The conservative nature of
the later short pieces that fill out the disc a little can be explained by
the fact that, according to the notes, Strauss wrote these for family get-togethers
- his father was hardly a paragon of radicalism. The brief Arabian Dance that
opens the Two Pieces is more bizarre than conservative - but very evocative,
all the same!
This is the second recording for Naxos by the US-based Amelia Trio, following
a CD of John Harbison's chamber works (8.559243), which included a work they
commissioned - his Second Piano Trio. On the present disc they perform beautifully,
with considerable style and great respect for Strauss's youth, and with a
helping hand from Max Mandel on viola in the final ten minutes of their recital.
These pieces have all been recorded before, but relatively infrequently -
of four or five previous accounts on CD, it is the Mendelssohn Piano Trio's
which stands out as the main competition - their programme for Centaur Records
(CRC 2718, 2005) features the two Trios with Strauss's Brahmsian Piano Quartet
in C minor op.13.
Sound quality is very good, though the microphones only just about cope with
some of the unison playing in the Ständchen. Informative booklet notes
are by Lawrence Duckles - a pretty safe bet that he is related to Amelia cellist
Jason. The big news is that Naxos have finally introduced a font that is large
enough to be read by most people without the assistance of a magnifying glass
- long may that practice continue. A second opinion on this disc can be had
below.
Byzantion
Collected reviews and contact at reviews.gramma.co.uk
Lyrical beauty and classical proportions.
See also review by James L Zychowicz