Antonín Dvořák - Piano Trios Nos. 1 & 2 (Florestan Trio)

Information

Composer: Antonín Dvořák; Josef Suk

1. Dvořák - Piano Trio No. 1 in B flat major, Op. 21: 1. Allegro molto
2. Dvořák - Piano Trio No. 1 in B flat major, Op. 21: 2. Adagio molto e mesto
3. Dvořák - Piano Trio No. 1 in B flat major, Op. 21: 3. Allegretto scherzando
4. Dvořák - Piano Trio No. 1 in B flat major, Op. 21: 4. Allegro vivace
5. Suk - Elegy in D flat major, Op. 23
6. Dvořák - Piano Trio No. 2 in G minor, Op. 26: 1. Allegro moderato
7. Dvořák - Piano Trio No. 2 in G minor, Op. 26: 2. Largo
8. Dvořák - Piano Trio No. 2 in G minor, Op. 26: 3. Scherzo. Presto - Trio. Poco meno mosso - Presto da capo
9. Dvořák - Piano Trio No. 2 in G minor, Op. 26: 4. Allegro non tanto

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

Date: 2008
Label: Hyperion
http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dc.asp?dc=D_CDA67572

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Reviews

ARTISTIC QUALITY: 9 / SOUND QUALITY: 9

Dvorák’s two early trios are less popular than the F-minor and Dumky because they supposedly reflect a certain immaturity with respect to handling of form, idiomatic piano writing, and even characteristic melody. Nonsense. Listen to the exposition of the First Trio’s first movement: these tunes would not be out of place coming from Dvorák’s “American” period. They are lovely works, and while I don’t always see the necessity in recording complete cycles, in this case I can only welcome the exposure that these less frequently played pieces are getting. After all, it’s not as if we’re drowning in great 19th-century piano trios.

As with the first disc in this cycle, the performances by the Florestan Trio are models of sensitive chamber music playing. Balances among the three instruments are always well judged; the rhythms in the scherzos are well-sprung, while the slow movements have warmth without schmaltz. Of the two trios, the performance of the First strikes me as marginally finer than the Second in the outer movements, but this is a very subjective impression. One small caveat: violinist Anthony Marwood’s timbre in Suk’s brief Elegy, here sandwiched between the two larger works, could be more alluring above the stave. But this is a tiny drawback in what otherwise is a lovely disc, very well engineered. [2/19/2008]

-- David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday

More reviews:
http://www.thestrad.com/cpt-reviews/dvoak-piano-trios-in-b-flat-major-op-21-and-in-g-minor-op-26-suk-elegy-op-23/
http://www.musicalcriticism.com/recordings/cd-florestan-dvorak-0208.shtml
http://www.allmusic.com/album/dvor%C3%A1k-piano-trios-suk-elegy-mw0001564138
http://www.amazon.com/Dvor%C3%A1k-Piano-Trios-Suk-Elegy/dp/B0011FEGUS

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Antonín Dvořák (September 8, 1841 – May 1, 1904) was a Czech composer. He was the second Czech composer to achieve worldwide recognition, after Bedřich Smetana. Following Smetana's nationalist example, many of Dvořák's works show the influence of Czech folk music, such as his  two sets of Slavonic Dances, the Symphonic Variations, and the overwhelming majority of his songs. Dvořák wrote in a variety of forms: nine symphonies, ten operas, three concertos, several symphonic poems, serenades for string orchestra and wind ensemble, more than 40 works of chamber music, and piano music.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton%C3%ADn_Dvo%C5%99%C3%A1k

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The Florestan Trio formed in 1995 in London, England. Its members included Anthony Marwood (violin), Richard Lester (cello), and Susan Tomes (piano). Lester and Tomes are former members of the piano quartet Domus. The Florestan Trio played together for sixteen years and established a reputation as one of the finest piano trios in the world. The Trio is one of the most-recorded piano trios in the world; their recordings for Hyperion have received outstanding reviews, and 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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