Schubert, Piano Trio in Eb, D929

[Pulcinella]

Although I am partly responsible for this new sub-forum (thanks for the support, by the way) I find I have hardly anything to say on this first thread: Schubert is not my period, and the piano trio not my favourite genre.


That said, there is a recording on the shelves: the Philips Duo mentioned already, with the Beaux Arts Trio (Presler/Guilet/Greenhouse), which I dug out and listened to yesterday.
And I've been reading the postings and learning about the work and what about it appeals to others.
So, in that sense, the sub-forum is already proving its worth.
And it's partly why we're all here, too, sharing our knowledge and enthusiasms.

[Mal]

Casals et.al. is Rob Cowan's favourite "distinguished by wistful playing from Casals and an especially poignant account.of the second movement." It's worth a listen, for Casals, but other factors rule it out as a potential library selection for me (the violinist and pianist seem a bit manic and uncontrolled, don't gel with Casals... and the recording quality isn't great...)

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Although I am partly responsible for this new sub-forum ... I find I have hardly anything to say on this first thread: Schubert is not my period, and the piano trio not my favourite genre.

There's just no pleasing some folk. ("Partly responsible", 'e sez ... "partly"!)



It is an excellent idea for the Forum (as was ed's about forthcoming broadcast performances) and I hope will prove to be one of its most popular aspects.

[Constantbee]

Florestan Trio is my excellent modern version

Particularly good piano playing by Susan Tomes.

[jayne lee wilson]

Stop Press....Just out... just listening... to D898 via Qobuz Studio.....

https://www.qobuz.com/gb-en/album/schubert-trio-les-esprits/int0c0rnac93a

Modern instrument, but very promising first impressions...light, fluid, agile, wide expressive range..these guys can do delicate or stormy equally well ..really lovely playing. Pianist (Adam Laloum) - outstanding.
Really gorgeous 24/96 sound...
Length of D929 finale suggests cuts restored, notes.... unrevealing.


The Trio Les Esprits seem vey aptly named!
Come, my Ariel....

A modern classic? Hope so. Early days but really looking forward to more tonight....(need sleep now..)...

[BBMmk2]

I’m hoping to listen to that soon!

[jayne lee wilson]

Stop Press....Just out... just listening... to D898 via Qobuz Studio.....

https://www.qobuz.com/gb-en/album/schubert-trio-les-esprits/int0c0rnac93a

Modern instrument, but very promising first impressions...light, fluid, agile, wide expressive range..these guys can do delicate or stormy equally well ..really lovely playing. Pianist (Adam Laloum) - outstanding.
Really gorgeous 24/96 sound...
Length of D929 finale suggests cuts restored, notes.... unrevealing.


The Trio Les Esprits seem vey aptly named!
Come, my Ariel....

A modern classic? Hope so. Early days but really looking forward to more tonight....(need sleep now..)...

***
I returned to the Trio Les Esprits in D898... how wonderful to hear such new young performers play this music so wonderfully well; they sing and dance, soar and surge - really do have the idiom and the expressive range... early-morning impressions most definitely confirmed!

D929 for later...when the owls come out, or when the Blackbirds appear in the gloom for the first-light feed....

[kea]

Stop Press....Just out... just listening... to D898 via Qobuz Studio.....

https://www.qobuz.com/gb-en/album/schubert-trio-les-esprits/int0c0rnac93a

Modern instrument, but very promising first impressions...light, fluid, agile, wide expressive range..these guys can do delicate or stormy equally well ..really lovely playing. Pianist (Adam Laloum) - outstanding.
Really gorgeous 24/96 sound...
Length of D929 finale suggests cuts restored, notes.... unrevealing.


The Trio Les Esprits seem vey aptly named!
Come, my Ariel....

A modern classic? Hope so. Early days but really looking forward to more tonight....(need sleep now..)...

Finding out Adam Laloum was a contributor pushed this up on my list—listened to the D929 finale earlier. Agree w light & airy; almost proto-Mendelssohnian. Even at its stormiest or most delicate it's all handled with a certain amount of restraint and moderation, the polar opposite of the Weithaas-Hecker-Helmchen recording, and with the grace that one avoids. Definitely encouraged though and will listen to the whole thing

[jayne lee wilson]

further update on #35, #37........

Schubert D929 Trio Les Esprits Sony 24/96, streamed via Qobuz Studio

So lovely is the blend between the instruments, the instinctiveness of ensemble, the sheer beauty of tone, the intensity of anguish and joy at the climax of the con moto surprises you; they don’t hold back here. But the Esprits never undersell any mood and the peaks of the 1st movement development are properly storm-tossed.

Their sense of tension and release, of so natural an ebb and flow through phrase and paragraph sweeps you along - the listener goes with the flow, so beautifully judged as it is.
Violin and cello have a warm rosiny woodiness reminiscent of period instruments, and the players handle them with great fluidity and deftness.
Laloum’s pianism is quicksilver-sharp, shape-shifting through every shade of mood. Powerful lower registers when needed.

Only minor drawback I can carp on would be a lack of a "present acoustic". Not much sense of the venue here. But the lovely warmth is more than compensatory, and the placing of the three performers is perfectly distanced to accommodate a wide dynamic range without strain.

It does seem a young persons’ Schubert; an adventurous, questing traversal, clear-eyed, youthfully impassioned. Their tone is stronger, bolder, wilder through the finale - compellingly so - with a terrific feeling of arrival at the close.

Three Stars are Born….!

[DublinJimbo]

further update on #35, #37........

Three Stars are Born….!

As ever, beautifully expressed Jayne — in all your posts about this. I'm delighted that you fell for this wonderful recording too. It's brought great pleasure to me since it appeared on Qobuz. I know it's early days yet, but I can see this remaining on my pick of the year by the time December comes round. Superb music-making.

[richardfinegold]

Stop Press....Just out... just listening... to D898 via Qobuz Studio.....

https://www.qobuz.com/gb-en/album/schubert-trio-les-esprits/int0c0rnac93a

Modern instrument, but very promising first impressions...light, fluid, agile, wide expressive range..these guys can do delicate or stormy equally well ..really lovely playing. Pianist (Adam Laloum) - outstanding.
Really gorgeous 24/96 sound...
Length of D929 finale suggests cuts restored, notes.... unrevealing.


The Trio Les Esprits seem vey aptly named!
Come, my Ariel....

A modern classic? Hope so. Early days but really looking forward to more tonight....(need sleep now..)...

When I click the link, the album information is covered by adverts for Qobuz that cannot be removed. Who are the performers?

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

When I click the link, the album information is covered by adverts for Qobuz that cannot be removed. Who are the performers?

Trio Les Esprits, rfg - a 2 CD new release from SONY.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Schubert-Trio-Esprits/dp/B07K1L2B87

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Imaginative couplings, too, but a shame no room for the Notturno.

[jayne lee wilson]

When I click the link, the album information is covered by adverts for Qobuz that cannot be removed. Who are the performers?

See above ...#35 #37, release details in #39.....

They obviously avoided the lovely Notturno precisely because it is so frequently the c/w.

RFG - puzzled about those ads, I don't see them, but you might find the download scrolling right via this New Releases page..

https://www.qobuz.com/gb-en/shop/classique/download-streaming-albums

[teamsaint]

***
I returned to the Trio Les Esprits in D898... how wonderful to hear such new young performers play this music so wonderfully well; they sing and dance, soar and surge - really do have the idiom and the expressive range... early-morning impressions most definitely confirmed!

D929 for later...when the owls come out, or when the Blackbirds appear in the gloom for the first-light feed....

Well this is certainly a disc that deserves recommendation , so thanks for your comments
. Some superb playing, and the sound is Rolls Royce . The modern piano , and the way it is recorded does beg questions though. It isn’t a problem of balance,which is sensitively handled, more that the sound is almost unnaturally good. In a live situation, there would surely be more of something else. And I did spend a lot of the time wondering about whether this ( beautiful) piano sound was really the best way to present the work .
The trio clearly have the technical and musical ability. It would be interesting to hear their interpretation with a period instrument . Might have made a good CD with the two approaches side by side.