Brahms Piano Trios
Confidence and directness but the contrasts are smoothed over
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Johannes Brahms
Genre:
Chamber
Label: Praga Digitals
Magazine Review Date: 4/2011
Media Format: Super Audio CD
Media Runtime: 58
Mastering:
Stereo
DDD
Catalogue Number: DSD250273

Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Piano Trio No. 2 |
Johannes Brahms, Composer
Guarneri Trio of Prague Johannes Brahms, Composer |
Piano Trio |
Johannes Brahms, Composer
Guarneri Trio of Prague Johannes Brahms, Composer |
Author: DuncanDruce
The Guarneri Trio play both works in a confident, direct manner. Where the music demands it, there’s no lack of power and energy, and all three players sustain a rich, full tone in Brahms’s expansive melodies. I do find, however, a lack of variety and flexibility in the way they respond to the music. They take note of the marked dynamic changes but there’s little light and shade or individuality in the way each phrase is shaped.
Turning for comparison in the C major Trio to Nicolas Angelich and the Capuçon brothers, I was struck by how, in the Scherzo, they create a tense atmosphere, proceeding anxiously on tiptoe; the Guarneri Trio match them as regards articulation and ensemble but sound heavier and less memorable. Angelich and his colleagues establish more clearly the character of the first movement’s various themes and, in the Andante, give each of the variations its own sonority; in the Guarneri account such contrasts are much less apparent. In this complex, multifaceted work, I’d always choose the more searching interpretation.
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