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Technically polished: the Hermitage Piano Trio impress in Rachmaninov
(‘Washington’s Birthday’ is omitted). The first, ‘Independence Day’ (‘The Fourth of July’ to you, me and Ives), is built on the tune Materna, better known as America the Beautiful. ‘Memorial Day’ is the modern name for Decoration Day and Locklair bases his central movement on the famous tune Taps, quoted prominently by Ives, also. However, where the older composer captured so beautifully a sense of nostalgia, Locklair’s music is syrupy and overdone, as in the overlong finale, ‘Thanksgiving Day’.
This mix of the expressively unconstrained and not knowing when to stop recurs in the Organ Concerto (2010), particularly in the central ‘Canto’, and the 2007 orchestral fantasia Phoenix. The latter had a complex and prolonged genesis starting in 1979 but the passage of time extended rather than refined the work. Most engaging of all is the ‘festive piece for orchestra’ Hail the Coming Day, a bright orchestral toccata after the manner of Harris, all the better for its brevity. The Slovak National Symphony Orchestra give good accounts of each piece (and themselves) and Naxos’s sound is more than serviceable. Guy Rickards
Rachmaninov Trios élégiaques – No 1; No 2, Op 9. Vocalise, Op 34 No 14 (arr Julius Conus) Hermitage Piano Trio Reference Recordings F Í RR147 (72’ • DDD)
Rachmaninov’s piano trios have been extremely lucky on disc, with dozens of world-class versions (both sonically and interpretatively speaking) from which to choose. The Hermitage Piano Trio prove another strong contender within a catalogue of riches.
The ensemble brings a darker, more brooding vantage point to the 19-year-old composer’s one-movement G minor Trio, tastefully stretching out phrases that the Wanderer Trio accelerate, while favouring relatively massive sonorities that contrast with the leaner, more driving Trifonov/ Kremer/Dirvanauskaite˙ traversal.
If you prefer the long D minor Trio’s opening Moderato sung out in truly elegiac and sombre terms, the present recording will surely fit the bill. In particular, the impassioned thrust of the unison string triplets (5'09") stand out for their unanimity under pressure, whereas Kremer and Dirvanauskaite˙ occasionally lunge above the staff.
Those who feel that Trifonov stretches the Quasi variazione movement’s opening theme to reverential extremes may prefer Ilya Kazantsev’s straighter phrasing and telling dabs of minutely overlapping legato pedalling (not to mention his dazzlingly rapid unison runs elsewhere). That said, I prefer the faster flexibility of Denis Kozhukhin in the 2011 Argerich Lugano Festival compilation and the late David Golub (Arabesque). Yet again, the unified tempo relationships and high level of ensemble give and take add up to a satisfying entity. However, for sheer forward momentum and dramatic sweep, the Hermitage Trio set the Allegro risoluto finale ablaze, revelling in its rhythmic asymmetry and dramatic sweep, and consequently surpass the Trifonov/ Kremer/Dirvanauskaite˙ triumvirate in regard to forward momentum and dynamism; compare, for example, the broken-octave tutti passage about 3'50" into the movement and you’ll hear what I mean. If I could morph the Heritage Trio musicians’ impeccable ensemble and intonation in the Vocalise on to the faster, more fluid tempos of several less technically polished ensembles who’ve recorded Julius Conus’s arrangement, I’d be a happy camper. Thoroughly detailed annotations and ravishingly balanced surround-sound engineering lend further distinction to this release. Jed Distler Trios – selected comparisons: Kremer, Trifonov, Dirvanauskaite˙
(5/17) (DG) 479 6979GH Trio Wanderer (8/19) (HARM) HMM90 2338 Trio No 2 – selected comparison: R Capuçon, Levionnois, Kozhukhin
(10/12) (EMI/WARN) 644701-2
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