Robert Schumann - Piano Trio No. 3; Piano Quartet; Fantasiestücke (Florestan Trio)

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Composer: Robert Schumann

1. Piano Trio No. 3 in G minor, Op. 110: I. Bewegt, doch nicht zu rasch - Rascher
2. Piano Trio No. 3 in G minor, Op. 110: II. Ziemlich langsam - Etwas bewegter - Schneller - Erstes Tempo
3. Piano Trio No. 3 in G minor, Op. 110: III. Rasch
4. Piano Trio No. 3 in G minor, Op. 110: IV. Kraftig, mit Humor
5. Fantasiestücke, Op, 88: I. Romanze. Nicht schnell, mit innigen Ausdruck 
6. Fantasiestücke, Op, 88: II. Humoreske. Lebhaft
7. Fantasiestücke, Op, 88: III. Duett. Langsam und mit Ausdruck
8. Fantasiestücke, Op, 88: IV. Finale. Im Marsch-Tempo
9. Piano Quartet in E flat major, Op. 47: I. Sostenuto assai - Allegro ma non troppo
10. Piano Quartet in E flat major, Op. 47: II. Scherzo. Molto vivace - Trio
11. Piano Quartet in E flat major, Op. 47: III. Andante cantabile
12. Piano Quartet in E flat major, Op. 47: IV. Finale. Vivace

Florestan Trio
Anthony Marwood, violin
Richard Lester, cello
Susan Tomes, piano
&
Thomas Riebl, viola (9-12)

Date: 2000
Label: Hyperion
http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dc.asp?dc=D_CDA67175

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Review

A new lease of life for three of Schumann’s less-championed chamber works in these revelatory performances from the Florestan

It’s scarcely surprising that a group with the name of Florestan should have an extra-special feeling for the composer who chose it as one of his own two youthful pseudonyms. After their 1999 Gramophone Award- winning coupling of Schumann’s first two piano trios, these players now champion three works which are less frequently encountered on the concert platform, proving once again how a revelatory interpretation can make all of us think again.

I’d long felt that the G minor Piano Trio (No 3) of 1851 suffered from over-repetitive, at times perfunctory, rhythmic patterning. But thanks to the mercurial vitality and the spontaneous response to every passing innuendo from all three closely interwoven voices, not a note here sounds unmotivated.

The three fanciful 1842 miniatures for piano trio (revised under the title of Fantasiestucke in 1849) have long, and rightly, been criticised for the dominance of the keyboard in all but the third, entitled ‘Duet’. Susan Tomes makes no attempt to disguise this – as if in support of the idea that the string parts might have been specifically designed for music-loving amateur friends.

Last but not least, the Piano Quartet of 1842, long overshadowed by its much-loved romantic forerunner, the Piano Quintet. Misha Donat’s appreciative note reminds us that even the loyal Clara waited some seven years before taking it into her repertory. In this work the rarely silent piano must certainly not be allowed to dominate, which is why first praise goes to Susan Tomes for so keen an ear for balance. The Scherzo has a Mendelssohnian, elfin fleetness, and the finale (surely Schumann’s ne plus ultra in exhilarating contrapuntal ingenuity) an exemplary textural clarity. The slow movement, played with a touching simplicity, speaks as eloquently as any of the composer’s Clara-inspired love-songs. Excellently recorded, this welcome disc should win all three works a new lease of life.

-- Joan Chissell, Gramophone

More reviews:
BBC Music Magazine  PERFORMANCE: **** / SOUND: *****
http://www.amazon.com/Schumann-Piano-Trios-Op-Quartet/dp/B00004VXCT

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Robert Schumann (8 June 1810 – 29 July 1856) was a German composer and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era, and left an array of acclaimed music in virtually all the forms then known. Schumann's published compositions were written exclusively for the piano until 1840; he later composed works for piano and orchestra; many Lieder (songs for voice and piano); four symphonies; an opera; and other orchestral, choral, and chamber works. Schumann suffered from a lifelong mental disorder, and died in 1856 without having recovered from his illness.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Schumann

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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.
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/florestan-trio-mn0001398686

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