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Ludwig van Beethoven: The Complete Piano Trios (Vol. II)

by Guarneri Trio Prague, Pascal Moragues, Michal Kanka

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1.
Piano Trio No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 1/3 : I. Allegro con brio 09:51
2.
Piano Trio No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 1/3 : II. Andante cantabile con variazioni 07:43
3.
Piano Trio No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 1/3 : III. Menuetto. Quasi allegro - Trio 03:59
4.
Piano Trio No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 1/3 : IV. Finale. Prestissimo 05:42
5.
Trio No. 4 for Piano, Clarinet and Cello in B Flat Major, Op. 11 : I. Allegro con brio 09:18
6.
Trio No. 4 for Piano, Clarinet and Cello in B Flat Major, Op. 11 : II. Adagio 05:04
7.
Trio No. 4 for Piano, Clarinet and Cello in B Flat Major, Op. 11 : III. Allegretto 06:28
8.
Piano Trio in G Major, Op. 121a [Kadaku Variations] 14:47

about

In the domain of instrumental music, Beethoven contributed, genre by genre, to the evolution of the models proposed at the end of the 18th century by his predecessors: Haydn and Mozart, of course, but also personalities less well known today such as Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach and members of the second generation of the Mannheim School (Franzl, Stamitz, Toeschi, Richter, Holzbauer, Filtz, Wendling, Ramm...). The first really significant collections of trios were perhaps those published by CPE Bach in 1775-1776 under the title of Claviersonaten and which are explicitly for obbligato keyboard “with violin and cello accompaniment”. The keyboard trio is the natural successor to the Sonata a due of the Baroque era such as the sonatas for violin (or flute) and keyboard by J.S. Bach and Handel, rather than the trio sonata which, despite its name, requires four instruments. In Beethoven’s eleven trios, the keyboard occupies the main place, by the very nature of the instrument itself (pizzicato, then struck strings) and probably also due to the fact that Beethoven performed as a concert virtuoso on the piano on which he composed throughout his life. Anyway, the strings are far to be reduced to a simple accompaniment role. In three creative periods (1790-1795, 1809 and 1811), Beethoven took music for this formation from the status of ‘Baroque sonata’ to that of the enlarged instrumental sonata, then a sweeping four-movement chamber work, the keyboard instrument reserving a concertante role for itself, astonishing in its brilliance and power.
Today, the Trio No. 3, the first composition to adopt Beethoven’s ‘fate’ key of C minor, is rightly the best known of the three works making up the Opus 1. Particularly in the outer parts does the full stature of the more mature ‘leonine’ Beethoven appear - the concluding Prestissimo reinstates the breathless mood of the opening Allegro, the fleeting impression of anxiety of its first theme temporarily giving way to a vast, hymn-like melody spreading with broad runs. The Trio No. 4 Op. 11 of 1798 was originally written for clarinet, cello and piano, but Beethoven soon furnished an ‘ad libitum’ violin part alternative. This charming work represents one of his last concessions to contemporary taste; the nonetheless pleasant score returns to the three-movement form without a scherzo. Beethoven returns to the art of the variation in his final work for piano trio, a modest counterpart to the contemporary Diabelli Variations, the Ten Variations on “Ich bin der Schneider Kakadu”. The generating motif is introduced in the course of a powerful Adagio assai. Successively masterful and comical, with contrapuntal exchanges and contrasts in colour generously carried out, they entrust the solo role either to the keyboard or to the strings in inexhaustible possibilities of evolution.

Awards: Choc of Le Monde de la Musique, Recommended by Classica, 5 of Diapasons

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released January 1, 1999

Guarneri Trio Prague (Ensemble)

Recorded in Domovina Studio, Prague, April and December 1998

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Guarneri Trio Prague Paris, France

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