Joseph Haydn - Piano Trios Vol. 1 (Florestan Trio)

Information

Composer: Joseph Haydn

1. Piano Trio in D major, Hob. XV/24: 1. Allegro
2. Piano Trio in D major, Hob. XV/24: 2. Andante
3. Piano Trio in D major, Hob. XV/24: 3. Allegro, ma non dolce
4. Piano Trio in G major "Gypsy Rondo", Hob. XV/25: 1. Andante
5. Piano Trio in G major "Gypsy Rondo", Hob. XV/25: 2. Poco adagio
6. Piano Trio in G major "Gypsy Rondo", Hob. XV/25: 3. Finale"'Rondo all' Ongarese": Presto
7. Piano Trio in F sharp minor, Hob. XV/26: 1. Allegro
8. Piano Trio in F sharp minor, Hob. XV/26: 2. Adagio cantabile
9. Piano Trio in F sharp minor, Hob. XV/26: 3. Finale: Tempo di menuetto
10. Piano Trio in C major, Hob. XV/27: 1. Allegro
11. Piano Trio in C major, Hob. XV/27: 2. Andante
12. Piano Trio in C major, Hob. XV/27: 3. Presto

Florestan Trio
Susan Tomes, piano
Anthony Marwood, violin
Richard Lester, cello

Date: 2009
Label: Hyperion
http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dc.asp?dc=D_CDA67719

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Review

Playing to stop you in your tracks with its unimpeachable interpretative acumen

Over a decade ago, Susan Tomes said, “I don’t think recording is compatible with being musically profound”. Might it have contributed to a degree of detachment that surfaced intermittently? Perhaps; but here Tomes and her partners identify themselves fully with the emotional scale of these works, ostensibly meant for domestic use on small pianos. But their scope suggests that Haydn structured them for the powerful English Broadwood instruments suited to the concert hall. The noise-quelling opening chord of No 24 would have stopped rowdy audiences of the day in their tracks.

There is so much from the Florestan to stop us in our tracks too, not least in their feel for expressing the content of these sparsely marked scores, as in the finale of No 24 when Allegro ma dolce in D major changes to a stabbing D minor before returning to the original key. The musicians intuitively recreate the return even more sweetly. Their interpretative acumen is unimpeachable. The continuous triplets in the Adagio of No 26, tiresome if badly played, are instead profoundly yielding. And the Presto finale of No 27 isn’t driven on cruise control. A thought: Mary Hunter (Bowdoin College) argues that while “the quartets highlight the wit of the composer, the trios highlight the comic or capricious potential of the act of performance” – that is, they offer performers opportunities to decorate fermatas elaborately and create an improvisatory feel at ornamental cadences. The Florestan don’t fully concur. Nonetheless, this is a very special disc, recorded in detailed, front-row sound.

-- Nalen Anthoni, Gramophone

More reviews:
ClassicsToday  ARTISTIC QUALITY: 9 / SOUND QUALITY: 9
http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/2bzf
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2009/Mar09/Haydn_trios_cda67719.htm
http://classicalsource.com/db_control/db_cd_review.php?id=6719
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Haydn-Piano-Trios-Vol-1/dp/B001NG3PYI

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Joseph Haydn (31 March 1732 – 31 May 1809) was a prominent and prolific Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the piano trio and his contributions to musical form have earned him the epithets "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet". Haydn's work was central to the development of what came to be called sonata form. At the time of his death, aged 77, he was one of the most celebrated composers in Europe. Haydn was a friend and mentor of Mozart, a teacher of Beethoven, and the older brother of composer Michael Haydn.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Haydn

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The Florestan Trio was a piano trio. Formed in 1995 in London, England, its members were Anthony Marwood (violin), Richard Lester (cello), and Susan Tomes (piano). The Florestan Trio played together for sixteen years and established a reputation as one of the finest piano trios in the world. The Florestan Trio is one of the most-recorded piano trios in the world. Its recordings on Hyperion have received outstanding reviews; all their discs have been nominated for Gramophone Awards. Their final series of concerts was given at the Wigmore Hall in London in January 2012.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florestan_Trio
https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/a.asp?a=A92

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