Customer Reviews

Beethoven: Piano Trios; Violin & Cello Sonatas [Box Set]

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As noted above, this 9 CD set resulted from the youthful collaboration of Barenboim, du Pre (soon to wed Barenboim) and Zukerman. Clearly Barenboim is the driving force. As the info booklet asks: "Would Beethoven have approved of what Barenboim does here? Perhaps not, although he would surely have applauded the young man's courage".

Sadly, du Pre's illness (she had MS, forcing her retirement in 1973 and ultimately causing her untimely death) seriously limited the collaboration. Because her illness prevented a studio recording, the cello sonatas are from 1970 live recordings taped by the BBC. The audience noise is distracting, and I simply cannot understand why the coughs and chair scrapings could not have been edited out.

Barenboim and co really do drag out the slow movements; sometimes to good effect, and sometimes too much in my view. For example, the third movement of the Archduke Trio goes for 12:07 on the Naxos recording but extends to 16:02 here (but this one is still a better rendition).

To fill out the last CD, EMI includes Tchaikovsky's Piano Trio Op 50 (taped from a live performance in Tel Aviv in 1972), which is not in the same league as Beethoven's (but I guess they had to do something with the space).

My main complaint is that the thick 3-language info booklet is devoted entirely to the history of the performers and includes not a single word about the music itself!

That said, I am still very glad that I bought this set.