Clara Schumann; Fanny Mendelssohn - Piano Trios & String Quartet (The Nash Ensemble)

Information

Composer: Clara Schumann; Fanny Mendelssohn

• (01) C. Schumann - Piano Trio in G minor, Op. 17
• (05) F. Mendelssohn - Piano Trio in D minor, Op. 11
• (09) F. Mendelssohn - String Quartet in E flat major

Nash Ensemble
Stephanie Gonley, violin
Jonathan Stone, violin
Lawrence Power, viola
Adrian Brendel, cello
Simon Crawford-Phillips, piano

Date: 2020
Label: Hyperion
https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dc.asp?dc=D_CDA68307

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Review

Extraordinary as it sounds, I think this may be the first time that the string-ensemble chamber music of Clara Schumann and Fanny Mendelssohn has been paired together on a recording, rather than with corresponding works by Robert and Felix. At the very least it’s a first from a major ensemble, and the impression of this music being taken seriously on its own merits only intensifies when you press play.

First up is Schumann’s Piano Trio in G minor. Composed in 1846, before Robert composed his Third Trio in the same key, this work thoroughly busted all preconceptions of its time over what constituted feminine-sounding music and about the female capacity to deal with rigorous form – listen out for the fugal writing in the final movement. Indeed, the violinist Joseph Joachim actually commented that he couldn’t believe that ‘a woman could have composed something so sound and serious’; and sound and serious is precisely what The Nash Ensemble have given us. This is a strong, proud, full-blooded reading, full of contrasts in tone, attack and mood, nuanced in its colourings, its phrasing and overall architecture deftly shaped, long lines soaring taut and strong, choppy tempestuousness tightly knit, strings sounding bright and clean against the piano’s warm tones. These are readings that firmly place Schumann’s music not in a salon but in a concert hall.

Likewise Mendelssohn’s Trio in D minor with its Sturm und Drang, Simon Crawford-Phillips rising with elegant broodiness to the stormily tossing and turning virtuosity of its opening piano figures, before the strings meet their own subsequent constant virtuosities with polished panache, always firmly glued together and blending impeccably. Adrian Brendel serves up some especially delicious cello colours: for instance the soft, tense pathos with which he slidingly descends his scale at 9'42", anticipating the movement’s sombre close. Then Crawford-Phillips again thoroughly sets the tone for the finale with his folkily poignant Chopinesque figures in lieu of the strings’ further fire.

Mendelssohn’s Quartet brings more to admire, with the devastating stillness and simplicity of the first movement, the tense momentum of the Allegretto with its bitily gruff flutterings from viola and cello, the Romanze’s deftly spun-out long lines and the fiery pizzazz and crisp energy of the finale.

To say this disc makes the case for Schumann and Mendelssohn standing on their own two feet, away from the music of their menfolk, is something of an understatement.

-- Charlotte Gardner, Gramophone

More reviews:
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2020/Aug/SchumannC-trio-CDA68307.htm
https://www.allmusic.com/album/clara-schumann-piano-trio-fanny-mendelssohn-piano-trios-string-quartet-mw0003362599
https://www.amazon.com/C-Schumann-F-Mendelssohn-Quartet/dp/B084DHDQW6

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Clara Schumann (née Clara Josephine Wieck; 13 September 1819 – 20 May 1896) was a German musician and composer, considered one of the most distinguished pianists of the Romantic era. She exerted her influence over a 61-year concert career, changing the format and repertoire of the piano recital and the tastes of the listening public. Her husband was the composer Robert Schumann, and together they encouraged the young composer Johannes Brahms. She was the first to perform publicly any work by Brahms, and also instrumental in getting the works of Robert Schumann recognized.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clara_Schumann

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Fanny Mendelssohn [Hensel] (14 November 1805 – 14 May 1847) was a German pianist and composer, the sister of composer Felix Mendelssohn. Fanny showed prodigious musical ability as a child, but was limited by prevailing attitudes of the time toward women. She still composed over 460 pieces of music, include a piano trio and several books of solo piano pieces and songs. A number of her songs were originally published under his brother's name. In recent years, her music has become better known thanks to concert performances and a number of CDs being released on labels such as Hyperion and CPO.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanny_Mendelssohn

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London-based Nash Ensemble is a chamber orchestra consisting of 11 regular members, though their number can vary widely according to the work performed. The group's repertory is broad, but favours modern works by English composers. Founded in 1964 by Amelia Freedman, its longtime artistic director, the Nash Ensemble took its name from the famous Nash terraces in London, designed by architect John Nash. Mostly associated with the Hyperion label, it has continued to record prolifically, with releases balanced between mainstream repertory and contemporary works in many styles and from many different countries

http://www.allmusic.com/artist/nash-ensemble-mn0001914151

http://www.nashensemble.org.uk/

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