Louise Farrenc; Amy Beach; Rebecca Clarke - Piano Trios (Neave Trio)

Information

Composer: Louise Farrenc; Amy Beach; Rebecca Clarke

• (01) Farrenc - Trio No. 1 in E flat major, Op. 33
• (05) Beach - Trio, Op. 150
• (08) Clarke - Trio

Neave Trio
Anna Williams, violin
Mikhail Veselov, cello
Eri Nakamura, piano

Date: 2019
Label: Chandos
https://www.chandos.net/products/catalogue/CHAN%2020139

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Review

There are some half-dozen accounts of Amy Beach’s 1938 Trio (in A minor, not specified on the disc) currently available that I know of. One – from the Ambache – is also on Chandos and has long been my go-to recommendation for this lively yet nostalgic work, based largely on material from some of Beach’s songs. As Rob Cowan noted in his review of the fine Monte Trio version a couple of years ago, the Ambache brought greater breadth to the central Lento espressivo than their rivals, and so it proves again here, though the Neave are persuasive advocates of the work’s ‘late-Romantic glow’. Their articulation of the swifter passages does them credit and this is a strong alternative.

The Trio (1921) by Rebecca Clarke (this year marks the 40th anniversary of her death) is even better served on disc at present, with several fine recordings. I have long admired that by Martin Roscoe, Andrew Watkinson and David Waterman on ASV (coupled with Beach’s Quintet, curiously), though this newcomer runs it close and is rather more sumptuously recorded. Like the Trio des Alpes (who coupled their account with a so-so one of the Beach), the Neave have the measure of Clarke’s then quite radical style, closer to Bartók than to Vaughan Williams. The greater cogency of Clarke’s writing draws out a taut and vivid interpretation.

Louise Farrenc composed three piano trios (the third is an alternative version of the Op 44 Flute Trio) and they are all terrific listens. The Neave take a comparatively expansive way with No 1 here, as compared to the Linos Ensemble, part of a fine all-Farrenc programme with slightly more clinical sound. Collectors may prefer all-Beach or all-Farrenc couplings but the Neave’s programme makes a splendid introduction to these three pioneering female composers.

-- Guy Rickards, Gramophone

More reviews:
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2019/Nov/Farrenc_trio_CHAN20139.htm
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2019/Dec/Farrenc_trio_CHAN20139.htm
https://www.allmusic.com/album/her-voice-beach-clarke-farrenc-mw0003311304
https://www.audaud.com/her-voice-piano-trios-by-farrenc-beach-and-clarke-neave-trio-chandos/

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Louise Farrenc (31 May 1804 – 15 September 1875) was a French composer, virtuosa pianist and teacher who enjoyed a considerable reputation during her own lifetime. She was a student of Cecile Soria, a former student of Muzio Clementi, and was given lessons by Ignaz Moscheles and Johann Nepomuk Hummel. Farrenc also studied composition with Anton Reicha at the Conservatoire de Paris. At first, Farrenc wrote exclusively for the piano, but later expanding her range to include chamber music and works for orchestra. Her work includes 49 compositions with opus numbers, including 2 overtures and 3 symphonies.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_Farrenc

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Amy Beach (September 5, 1867 – December 27, 1944) was an American composer and pianist. She was the first successful American female composer of large-scale art music. Her "Gaelic" Symphony, premiered by the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1896, was the first symphony composed and published by an American woman. She was one of the first American composers to succeed without the benefit of European training, and one of the most respected and acclaimed American composers of her era. As a pianist, she was acclaimed for concerts she gave featuring her own music in the United States and in Germany.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amy_Beach

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Rebecca Clarke (27 August 1886 – 13 October 1979) was an English classical composer and violist best known for her chamber music featuring the viola. Clarke studied at the Royal Academy of Music and Royal College of Music in London, later becoming one of the first female professional orchestral players. Stranded in the US at the outbreak of World War II, she settled permanently in New York City. Although Clarke's output was not large, her work was recognised for its compositional skill and artistic power. Some of her works have yet to be published, while those that were published were largely forgotten.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebecca_Clarke_(composer)

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Since forming in 2010, Neave Trio has earned enormous praise for its engaging, cutting-edge performances. Neave has performed at many esteemed concert series and at festivals worldwide, including venues in the US, UK and Russia. The trio has also appeared frequently as soloists for Beethoven's Triple Concerto with orchestras across the US and held residency positions at Brown University, University of Virginia, and San Diego State University. In 2017, the Trio joined the faculty of the Longy School of Music of Bard College. Neave Trio has recorded for Chandos and Azica Records.
https://www.neavetrio.com/

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