2023 Approaching 60,000 reviews and more.. and still writing ...	Search MusicWeb Here

Searching Musicweb Monthly index Recordings of the Year Label index Masterwork index Series index Search engines Review Archive Classical Downloads Jazz Concerts Nostalgia Books Film music Resources Composer pages Tony Duggan's Mahler National Discographies Mark Morris's Guide to C20th Composers Ralph Moore's Surveys Online books Piano Trio Survey Cello Concerto Project Pot Pourri - Early MusicWeb Gerard Hoffnung Arthur Butterworth's columns Philip Scowcroft's British light music Interviews Programme notes MusicWeb Listening Studio Talking about Books Other material Articles Seen & Heard Message Board About Musicweb About Musicweb Contact Musicweb Contributors What they say about us Visitor stats Site Map

Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn

Buy through MusicWeb for £13.99 postage paid World-wide. Immediate delivery direct from Hyperion You may prefer to pay by Sterling cheque to avoid PayPal. Contact for details

Ludwig van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827) Piano Trio in C minor, Op. 1/3 (1795) [28.01] Variations in E flat major, Op. 44 (1792?) [12.27] Piano Trio in B flat major, Op. 11 (1797) [20.29] The Florestan Trio: Anthony Marwood (violin), Richard Lester (cello), Susan Tomes (piano) rec. Henry Wood Hall, London, 7-9 September 2003. DDD HYPERION CDA 67466 [61.10]

Error processing SSI file

The Florestan Trio's unfolding Beethoven cycle poses a problem for the reviewer, though a welcome one: it's difficult adequately to describe the essential rightness of their performances. These players' command of the Beethoven style - a precarious balance between clean-limbed order and volatile explosions, all contained within rigorously crafted structures - is thorough and expertly conveyed. In the sonata-form movements as well as the variation sequences - not only Op. 44, but the finale of Op. 11 - the lyrical themes sing within the same basic pulse as the forward-driving, uninhibited allegro sections, drawing power and dramatic weight from the composer's sudden harmonic pivots while maintaining a sense of "Classical" proportion. In the C minor's third movement, labeled Menuetto, the minuet-shaped phrases carry a more scherzo-like temperament; the Florestans take the full measure of both these contradictory impulses, relaxing easily in turn for the unexpectedly gemütlich Trio section. The "lesser" Opus 44 variations - Beethoven deploying his expressive arsenal in the service of rugged, elaborately imagined entertainment music - sound as important as the two "big" trios in this fleshed-out treatment. No less importantly, this ensemble also finds the right Beethoven sound - as important a component of interpretation as phrasing or tempo, but one unaccountably neglected by otherwise fine artists. The firmly weighted tone of the piano provides the foundation for a dark, burnished ensemble sonority, into which the violin injects a brighter, more incisive note. (Indeed, pianist Susan Tomes deserves special mention for her dazzling, articulate, full-bodied passagework at all dynamic levels.) In both trios, the long-breathed themes of the slow movements - presented by the piano in the C minor, and by the dusky 'cello in the B flat major - acquire their grave dignity as much from the players' depth of tone as from their sober interpretive demeanour. Hyperion's first-class production, with the resonant ambience enhancing rather than obscuring musical detail, ideally complements the superior performances. Stephen Francis Vasta Advertising on Musicweb Donate and keep us afloat   New Releases All Naxos reviews All Hyperion reviews All Foghorn reviews     Click to see New Releases Get 10% off using code musicweb10 All Divine Art reviews   All Lyrita Reviews   Obtain 10% discount Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

Return to Index

Error processing SSI file