Bedřich Smetana; Josef Suk; Vítězslav Novák - Piano Trios (Joachim Trio)

Information

Composer: Bedřich Smetana; Josef Suk; Vítězslav Novák

1. Smetana - Piano Trio in G minor, Op. 15: I. Moderato assai
2. Smetana - Piano Trio in G minor, Op. 15: II. Allegro, ma non agitato
3. Smetana - Piano Trio in G minor, Op. 15: III. Finale: Presto
4. Suk - Piano Trio in C minor, Op. 2: I. Allegro
5. Suk - Piano Trio in C minor, Op. 2: II. Andante
6. Suk - Piano Trio in C minor, Op. 2: III. Vivace
7. Suk - Elegie (Under the Impression of Zeyer's Vyšehrad), Op. 23
8. Novák - Trio quasi una ballata in D minor, Op. 27

Joachim Trio
Rebecca Hirsch, violin
Caroline Dearnley, cello
John Lenehan, piano

Date: 1998
Label: Naxos
https://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.553415

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Review

PERFORMANCE: **** / SOUND: *****

What an imaginative issue this is. Rather than going for the easy option of linking Smetana’s Trio in G minor with Dvorák’s ever-popular Dumky, the combination is Suk’s rarely heard Trio in C minor, and Novák’s marvellously sweeping single-movement Trio quasi una ballata. Smetana’s Trio, written to commemorate the death of his musical daughter, Bedriska, has the potential to be one of the most moving works in the chamber repertoire when in the right hands. The Joachim Trio is good at capturing the grand manner in the first movement and a pervasive sense of haunted desperation in the finale, but its treatment of the scherzo is problematic: the wistful outer sections are effective enough, but the second trio, the emotional heart of the work, is almost thrown off with clipped dotted rhythms and little sense of epic pathos. For the most complete experience of this remarkable trio, try the Guarneri Trio of Prague. The treatment of the shorter works on the disc is exemplary. The early Suk Trio in C minor offers many pointers towards his mature style, not least a pervasive tendency toward melancholy. The first movement is a touch constipated, but the slow movement is a lyric gem and the finale, with its irregular rhythms, quirkily original. The players have a real feel for its expressive qualities and they give an impressive rendition of the piano trio arrangement of the Elegy. They also provide a strikingly idiomatic performance of Novák’s splendid Trio in D minor commanding immediate attention in the snapped, Slovak rhythms of the opening. Apart from the slight problem in the Smetana, this is a highly recommendable issue.

-- Jan Smaczny, BBC Music Magazine

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Bedřich Smetana (2 March 1824 – 12 May 1884) was a Czech composer who pioneered the development of a musical style which became closely identified with his country's aspirations to independent statehood. The basic materials from which Smetana fashioned his art, according to Newmarch, were nationalism, realism and romanticism. He is thus widely regarded in his homeland as the father of Czech music. Internationally he is best known for his opera The Bartered Bride and for the symphonic cycle Má vlast ("My Homeland"), which portrays the history, legends and landscape of the composer's native land.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bed%C5%99ich_Smetana

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Josef Suk (4 January 1874 – 29 May 1935) was a Czech composer and violinist. Known as one of Dvořák's favorite pupils, Suk became very close to his mentor and later married Dvořák's daughter, Otilie. Suk was the grandfather of famed Czech violinist Josef Suk (1929-2011). Suk's musical style started off with a very heavy emphasis on what he experienced during his time with Dvořák, though this Czech-style influence eventually slowly became more German and Austrian in style. Suk, alongside Vitezslav Novak and Ostrčil, is considered one of the leading composers in Czech Modernism.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josef_Suk_(composer)

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Vítězslav Novák (5 December 1870 – 18 July 1949) was a Czech composer and pedagogue. Novak studied at the Prague Conservatory where he studied piano and attended Antonín Dvořák's masterclasses in composition. Stylistically, Novak was part of the neoromantic tradition, and his music has been occasionally considered an early example of Czech modernism. Novák's music nevertheless retained some elements of the late-Romantic style, with influence of French impressionism. Czechoslovak independence in 1918 and the Nazi occupation during WWII also sparked several patriotic compositions.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V%C3%ADt%C4%9Bzslav_Nov%C3%A1k

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The violinist Rebecca Hirsch is regarded as among the foremost interpreters in twentieth century music. She appears regularly as a soloist in Britain and throughout Europe, with orchestras including the Bournemouth Symphony, the London Sinfonietta, the Philharmonia, the Ulster Orchestra, and the BBC Concert, Philharmonic and Scottish Orchestras among many others. She records regularly for Da Capo and Naxos, and two of her recordings were nominated for the Gramophone’s Best Record of the Year Award. Hirsch also recorded for Naxos as a member of the Joachim Trio, with cellist Caroline Dearnley and pianist John Lenehan.
http://www.naxos.com/person/Rebecca_Hirsch/303.htm

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