Customer Reviews

Beethoven: Piano Trios Nos. 6 - Archduke & 7 ~ Ashkenazy / Perlman / Harrell

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have heard several versions of Beethoven's famous "Archduke Trio" and have found that the one included on this cd is the best. The piano work in the second movement is remarkable. Ashkenazy's interpretation of this Beethoven trio are extraordinary. It beats the Beaux Arts Trio interpretation dramatically and makes the music flow more. The string work of Perlman and Harrell makes the listener hear what the violin and cello were meant to sound like in this piece. I give this cd five stars.

The Archduke Trio is a work of sublime beauty, one of the great works of all chamber music. This is an outstanding performance and recording in every way, with flawless ensemble and even the great Perlman for once not dominating but content to contribute to the synergy that comes from the three instrumentalists playing as one. And while I am not the biggest Ashkenazy fan in the world, sometimes finding his playing too flat, he is wonderful here, conveying a serene sense of beauty and holding the work together admirably.

I can highly recommend this CD to all classical funs. "Archduke Trio" is beautiful piece and it is performed on the same way. One of the best thing on this CD is sound quality. Sound is rich and so transparent.You can so clear and so ease hear and locate position of each performer. Put this CD in your player, press button 'start' and - ENJOY!

Or course these all-stars deliver a beautiful Archduke, but I didn't pay enough attention to the rest of the menu before buying: the 5-minute, single-movement 7th. This brings the total music on this CD to 42 minutes and change--a skimpy meal, for whatever reason.

Certainly another, full-length trio could have been paired with the Archduke. If you want more for your money, look for another good version.

It's not really defensible for EMI to issue a 44 min. CD when the Archduke is almost always paired with the "Geist" Trio #2 or a masterpiece from another composer. If Perlman-Ashkenzy-Harrell gave a blazing performance, I could see accepting such short shrift. To my ears they don't. In fact, theirs is a rather polite approach, considerably less expressive than the more forward Archduke from Istomin-Stern-Rose on a budget Sony CD paired with the "Geist."

I can't say which member of this trio is leading the way in caution and reserve--they all seem to agree that it's what they want. But I lost interest long before the variations in the Andante third movement reached the halfrway point. Beethoven's piano trios don't rank at the summit with his string quartets, but why play them like jaunty Haydn, and with such timid attack?