BaL 17.12.22 - Ravel: Piano Trio in A minor

[Bryn]

There was an absolutely cracking performance of Sibelius’s Lemminkainen’s Return by YPT and the BBC Philharmonic on Through the Night a few weeks back - probably the best I’ve ever heard.

Still just about available: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001f5w2

[cloughie]

There was an absolutely cracking performance of Sibelius’s Lemminkainen’s Return by YPT and the BBC Philharmonic on Through the Night a few weeks back - probably the best I’ve ever heard.

Even topping Tommy’s?

His French music recordings on Chandos all seem to come out well eg Schmitt’s Tragedie de Salome

https://youtu.be/kzC6MwaOl2c

[Mal]

Big fan of Trio Dali’s recording here

It is wonderful, as the BBC reviewer said "dreamy", it was top of my list to listen in full after the programme... Having just done so, it was good to hear the dreaminess maintained in most of the slow passages... perhaps even dreamier than the Capucons, but overall I think I still (just) prefer the Capucons, who are sometimes criticised for being overpowering in the fast passages, but I didn't find that, the Dalis are more guilty of that I feel. But this is nit picking, both would make great library choices. Nash Ensemble as well (maybe the choice if you want minimum over-powering, but still have great momentum, which they maintain after that great opening...)

So many great performances, this is a difficult one to decide! Maybe it's a case of checking the other pieces on the disks and see who maintains quality/adds new pieces to your library. So which trios do people think have put out the best disk? Which trios have filled their disk with other masterpieces, or significant minor works, well performed, and which have just added any old filler?

[Wolfram]

It is wonderful, as the BBC reviewer said "dreamy", it was top of my list to listen in full after the programme... Having just done so, it was good to hear the dreaminess maintained in most of the slow passages... perhaps even dreamier than the Capucons, but overall I think I still (just) prefer the Capucons, who are sometimes criticised for being overpowering in the fast passages, but I didn't find that, the Dalis are more guilty of that I feel. But this is nit picking, both would make great library choices. Nash Ensemble as well (maybe the choice if you want minimum over-powering, but still have great momentum, which they maintain after that great opening...)

So many great performances, this is a difficult one to decide! Maybe it's a case of checking the other pieces on the disks and see who maintains quality/adds new pieces to your library. So which trios do people think have put out the best disk? Which trios have filled their disk with other masterpieces, or significant minor works, well performed, and which have just added any old filler?

I have to say that it was the Dali Trio that caught my ear most during the programme. I already have the Capucons so I’m not sure I need to invest in another, but if I was without a decent recording of the Ravel I think I would invest in the Dalis purely on the basis of what I heard on Saturday.

[jayne lee wilson]

There was an absolutely cracking performance of Sibelius’s Lemminkainen’s Return by YPT and the BBC Philharmonic on Through the Night a few weeks back - probably the best I’ve ever heard.

Apologies for staying off-piste from the trio for a second more, but don't forget Tortelier's very enterprising Hindemith and Dutilleux series (covering many works still rarely recorded or played even now) - in wonderful Chandos sound (often from fondly-remembered Studio 7), for me the best things this adventurous conductor did in Manchester...

[Mal]

I have to say that it was the Dali Trio that caught my ear most during the programme. I already have the Capucons so I’m not sure I need to invest in another, but if I was without a decent recording of the Ravel I think I would invest in the Dalis purely on the basis of what I heard on Saturday.

But, if memory serves, they played only the slow movements of the Dalis... I think people should listen to all the contenders in full on streaming, and be very clear about what's most important to them. For me, it's so close that "other works on disk" might be a good deciding factor. The Capucons have the violin sonatas - so not "top 1000 masterpieces", unlike the trio - I just listened to Violin Sonata 2 (late work, 1927) and found the outer movements rather pedestrian and uninvolving - not sure if this is me, Capucons, Ravel or modernism at fault! (Loved the middle movement, though, a fascinating "blues" very well performed by the trio...)