Sidebar 2: Recordings in the Round
Schubert: Piano Trio 2, Notturno for Piano & Strings
Trio Alba
Audiomax 9032013 (SACD/CD). I discovered the second movement of Schubert's Piano Trio 2 in E-flat, D.929, in 1975, when it was used as a stately and insistent motif throughout the film Barry Lyndon. Director Stanley Kubrick said that the piece had "just the right restrained balance between the tragic and the romantic without getting into the headier stuff of later Romanticism." Deeply affected by it, I ran from the theater and purchased a recording, though I no longer remember whose. The Trio has received dozens of recordings, and among the many I've collected are the classic reading by the Beaux Arts Trio (Philips) and lovely multichannel versions by the Storioni Trio (Pentatone) and Irnberger, Geringas, and Korstick (Gramola). This one is different. As Kubrick implied, it's necessary that the performers maintain the balance between the tragic and romantic, and such an approach can achieve good results. However, there are different ways to depict each of those qualities that, while preserving a balance, can shift the emotional center. Most performances lean toward severity in the former and gallantry in the latter, as did violinist Ralph Holmes, cellist Moray Welsh, and pianist Anthony Goldstone on the film's soundtrack. What's so refreshing about the Trio Alba's performance is the infusion of sadness into the tragic and warmth into the romantic. This may imply a narrower range of tempi and dynamics, but it's internally consistent and satisfying. Trio Alba takes no liberties with the score, yet their performance seems almost improvisatory. Their masterful pacing of the second movement, Andante con moto, left me breathless at the end. The first and third movements are played more playfully than usual, and in the long (some say overlong) fourth movement, all the elements of the preceding three movements are pulled together in such a way that its nearly 20 minutes seems the perfect length. Trio Alba also infuses the Notturno for Piano and Strings in E-flat, D.897, with new life, replacing the usual extremes, from brio to the almost static, with more consistent tones of sadness and acceptance.
The sound, too, is unusual. The three instruments are recorded fairly close, but without X-ray-vision separation of the instruments. Yes, I can discern each player, but I hear them as an ensemble. The sounds of the strings are detailed, and sound like gut (I don't know if they really were), the piano has some ping, and the lower notes of all three are tonally rich, with good weight. This is the rare classical SACD recorded in 5.1 channels, with authentic bass content in the LFE channel. When my subwoofers weren't activated, there was a very subtle loss of warmth.
Hindemith: Orchestral Music
Symphonic Metamorphosis on Themes of Carl Maria von Weber, Nobilissima Visione, Concert Music for Strings and Brass ("Boston Symphony")
Marek Janowski, Cologne West German Radio Symphony Orchestra
Pentatone PTC 5186672 (SACD/CD). Whew. The first movement of the Symphonic Metamorphosis is marked Allegro, and conductor Marek Janowski hits the ground running. In fact, the first time I cued it up, I turned it off after about 10 seconds. Later, when I knew I had the time to hear the whole piece, I discovered that, yes, this reading is fast, but it works brilliantly. After the shock of the quick start, I got swept up in the Allegro's sheer momentum. The brass, especially, are virtuosic, and the Pentatone engineers have given them prominence in the balance. The passages for chinoiserie percussion in the second movement, a Scherzo based on Weber's incidental music for Gozzi's play Turandot, are fabulous. The third movement, Andantino, is more tranquil but somewhat unsettled, and the final movement, Marsch, is breathtaking. The entire work is taken at refreshing tempos, and the orchestra is up to the task—the effect is exhilarating. Would Hindemith have approved? I do.
Nobilissima Visione, a suite drawn from Hindemith's score for a ballet about St. Francis of Assisi, is quieter and more reflective. Janowski and the orchestra treat it appropriately, with as much grace as Hindemith can muster and without undue haste. I can say the same about the Concert Music for Strings and Brass, written for the Boston Symphony in 1930. I find this music less inspired and inspiring than the other works here, but it gives the Cologne strings and brass opportunities to make some beautiful sounds—as, I guess, the BSO did, too.
Pentatone says that the sound on this SACD was derived from a PCM recording. Strangely for this label, surround and high-resolution downloads are not offered, only two-channel 16-bit/44.1kHz. Click on the choices for Premium- and Master-quality downloads at their website and you're told, "Sorry, this file type is not available for download due to the recording quality." Heck, they sell the SACD, and it's more than okay. Yes, the soundstage is a bit shallow, there's some highlighting of the brass and percussion and a bit of an edge on the brass, but, damn—the Metamorphosis is a killer performance, and the sound is good enough to make it a knockout.—Kalman Rubinson
Schubert: Piano Trio 2, Notturno for Piano & StringsTrio Alba
Audiomax 9032013 (SACD/CD). I discovered the second movement of Schubert's Piano Trio 2 in E-flat, D.929, in 1975, when it was used as a stately and insistent motif throughout the film Barry Lyndon. Director Stanley Kubrick said that the piece had "just the right restrained balance between the tragic and the romantic without getting into the headier stuff of later Romanticism." Deeply affected by it, I ran from the theater and purchased a recording, though I no longer remember whose. The Trio has received dozens of recordings, and among the many I've collected are the classic reading by the Beaux Arts Trio (Philips) and lovely multichannel versions by the Storioni Trio (Pentatone) and Irnberger, Geringas, and Korstick (Gramola). This one is different. As Kubrick implied, it's necessary that the performers maintain the balance between the tragic and romantic, and such an approach can achieve good results. However, there are different ways to depict each of those qualities that, while preserving a balance, can shift the emotional center. Most performances lean toward severity in the former and gallantry in the latter, as did violinist Ralph Holmes, cellist Moray Welsh, and pianist Anthony Goldstone on the film's soundtrack. What's so refreshing about the Trio Alba's performance is the infusion of sadness into the tragic and warmth into the romantic. This may imply a narrower range of tempi and dynamics, but it's internally consistent and satisfying. Trio Alba takes no liberties with the score, yet their performance seems almost improvisatory. Their masterful pacing of the second movement, Andante con moto, left me breathless at the end. The first and third movements are played more playfully than usual, and in the long (some say overlong) fourth movement, all the elements of the preceding three movements are pulled together in such a way that its nearly 20 minutes seems the perfect length. Trio Alba also infuses the Notturno for Piano and Strings in E-flat, D.897, with new life, replacing the usual extremes, from brio to the almost static, with more consistent tones of sadness and acceptance.
Hindemith: Orchestral MusicSymphonic Metamorphosis on Themes of Carl Maria von Weber, Nobilissima Visione, Concert Music for Strings and Brass ("Boston Symphony")
Marek Janowski, Cologne West German Radio Symphony Orchestra
Pentatone PTC 5186672 (SACD/CD). Whew. The first movement of the Symphonic Metamorphosis is marked Allegro, and conductor Marek Janowski hits the ground running. In fact, the first time I cued it up, I turned it off after about 10 seconds. Later, when I knew I had the time to hear the whole piece, I discovered that, yes, this reading is fast, but it works brilliantly. After the shock of the quick start, I got swept up in the Allegro's sheer momentum. The brass, especially, are virtuosic, and the Pentatone engineers have given them prominence in the balance. The passages for chinoiserie percussion in the second movement, a Scherzo based on Weber's incidental music for Gozzi's play Turandot, are fabulous. The third movement, Andantino, is more tranquil but somewhat unsettled, and the final movement, Marsch, is breathtaking. The entire work is taken at refreshing tempos, and the orchestra is up to the task—the effect is exhilarating. Would Hindemith have approved? I do.
