Customer Reviews

Faure, Debussy & Ravel Piano Trios

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

BUY THIS. If it wasnt on SACD I'd still be raving about it. The performances are everything you'd expect from the Florestan (child of Domus). The Ravel is exciting and more reminiscent of the string quartet than with many other performances and the Debussy is a lesser known early-gem. In this performance, the Ravel has so much more to say than in others which revel in its virtuosity without also revelling in its subtlety

As to the Faure, well, words fail. It is simply one of the best performances of all time, surpassing even the Beaux Arts in capturing so much of the world of late-Faure. Its a work which is contemporaneous with the great op. 121 string quartet yet which, to my ears, has never sounded as profound. Now, I'm converted, - its enigmatic, meditative, and, in the finale, vigourous, and the Florestan capture every changing nuance and mood, within a cogent framework. Wonderful!!

Now to the sound on SACD, - this is how chamber music should sound. It is natural, unforced, airy, communicative and yet unobtrusive. All Hyperion recordings are good, - this is EXEMPLARY, a perfect match of medium with message, of sound with performance.

Five stars all round. Bravo.

Rarely recorded--- no less as a trio of trios!--- these freshly musical, civilized and lyrical performances of works by Faure, Debussy and Ravel have, as well, rarely sounded so appealing. The Piano Trio in D minor, Op. 120 of Faure [1845-1924], written in the twilight of his years, offers a surprising glimpse of a composer now soothingly romantic, tuneful and uncomplicated. Shorn are earlier complexities, and in their place the warmth of an autumnal glow, most beautifully illuminated in the rapturous Andantino. No less surprising is the late-teenage G minor Piano Trio, written in 1880, of Claude Debussy [1862-1918], whose fabulous impressionist leanings are still formative. The young composer, drawing more on the romantic confluence of Tchaikovsky and Schumann, and perhaps even Rheinberger, is delightfully naive. Melody flows, spontaneous, charming and unpretentious. Ravel [1875-1937] falls mid-way between his two contemporaries, and his Piano Trio of 1914 already retains stylistic elements the ear instantly recognizes as the composer's own. Grace and nostalgic misterioso haunt this attractive work, making the couplings here all the more fascinating in their unique diversion, and irrepressibly valuable in their collective availability. The Florestan Trio (using members from the brilliant Domus ensemble) is outstanding, each musician contributing nuanced, sensitive accounts. The sound is richly detailed and warm.

[Running time: 65:50]

Whether as a Piano Trio (Florestan) or as a Piano Quartet (Domus) or even in duet, Susan Tomes and her British musical colleages have found a fertile niche in the Romantic period chamber music of Faure, Dvorak, Debussy, Schumann, Brahms and Ravel. Their Hyperion recordings of Faure's and Dvorak's Piano Quartets and Piano Quintets all rose to the top choices, winning some impressive awards along the way (Penguin Rosette, Gramophone Award). Ditto for their Schumann and Beethoven Piano Trios. This collection of piano trios from the great French Romantic composers - Faure, Debussy and Ravel - is no less outstanding and admirable. All three trios are absolute gems of French chamber music and are emmensely enjoyable, especially when played as alluringly by the Florestan Trio.

The Florestans play this music with imagination, delicacy and compelling musicianship that keeps the music vibrant and perpetually expressive. They bring out the gorgeous lyricism in the Faure and Debussy Trios with smooth, effortless melodic lines and rich sonorities. I would say in general they present this genre of music with a slightly more relaxed, less-edgy personna with a focus on tonal beauty and graceful lines. In particular, Faure's Andantino and Debussy's Scherzo and Andante are equisite in their hands. I did not realize how superb this music was until hearing their recording here.

The pairing with the more "modern" Piano Trio by Maurice Ravel is wonderfully compatible yet diverse enough to cap off a most interesting recital that spans several decades of French chamber music. The Floristan Trio renders Ravel's curiously emotive textures with equistite subtlety that keeps one listening closely to its fascinating shifts of color and nuance. Their reading of the hauntingly beautiful "Passacaille" third movement is particularly stunning in its expressive effects that can melt you (some really beautiful cello and low-register violin lines against a deep bass dirge tempo from Tomes). For all, the sound is exceptionally good even without the SACD enhancement (clear, vibrant, optimally resonant to bring just the right depth of presence). A bonus are 7 pages of above-average liner notes. The more I hear the music of Susan Tomes and this Trio (or in duet with Kyrsia Osostowicz), the more I am impressed and inspired. This marvelous CD has vaulted to the top of my favorites. Compositions - 5 stars; Performance - 5 stars; Sound quality - 5 stars.

Hyperion makes full use of all the possibilities of SACD technology to produce this recording. While it is a hybrid stereo rendition (rather than multichannel), the feelings of immediacy between listener and performer are there. The sound is warm, lush and full and the Florestan Trio uses the Faure, Debussy and Ravel pieces take advantage of the technology. The result is an absolutely beautiful recording that sets the standard both for performers AND for other companies interested in getting into the SACD market. BUY IT NOW ... you won't be disappointed.

BUY THIS. If it wasnt on SACD I'd still be raving about it. The performances are everything you'd expect from the Florestan (child of Domus). The Ravel is exciting and more reminiscent of the string quartet than with many other performances and the Debussy is a lesser known early-gem. In this performance, the Ravel has so much more to say than in others which revel in its virtuosity without also revelling in its subtlety

As to the Faure, well, words fail. It is simply one of the best performances of all time, surpassing even the Beaux Arts in capturing so much of the world of late-Faure. Its a work which is contemporaneous with the great op. 121 string quartet yet which, to my ears, has never sounded as profound. Now, I'm converted, - its enigmatic, meditative, and, in the finale, vigourous, and the Florestan capture every changing nuance and mood, within a cogent framework. Wonderful!!

Now to the sound on SACD, - this is how chamber music should sound. It is natural, unforced, airy, communicative and yet unobtrusive. All Hyperion recordings are good, - this is EXEMPLARY, a perfect match of medium with message, of sound with performance.

Five stars all round. Bravo.

Having been well and truly endeared -and addicted- to the Domus recordings of Fauré's Piano Quartets and Quintets on Hyperion, I was positively thrilled some time ago to find yet another Fauré performance by the same team on CD, this time his Piano Trio, coupled with the Trios of Ravel and Debussy, which made the record even more enticing. So I rushed out to get a copy, and it turned out that my almost absurdly high expectations were more than fulfilled.

The reader should be warned, perhaps, in a nudging and gleam-in-the-eye way, of my partiality here: as beautiful as the Trios by Debussy and Ravel are in their own right (my personal preference, however, settling rather firmly on the latter), it was the Fauré piece I was after in the first place. So, I apologise for not paying much attention to the other two compositions presented on this disc; fellow reviewers are encouraged to comment on them in more detail. On my part, suffice it to say that both performances are a delight on the ear, and should satisfy anyone who is already familiar with them through other recordings or otherwise. Interestingly enough, however, the Fauré Trio is given the honour to occupy the first slot on this CD. And what an opening it is.

The gently pulsating piano figure that opens the Fauré Trio quietly but firmly sets the mood for the whole, as it were. One immediately gets the tingling feeling that there is something extraordinarily beautiful in the offing, and, happily enough, that is exactly what follows. The cello joins in the proceedings with a wistful but strong line, and promptly also the violin; one is swept away on waves of melody that seem to know no bounds, despite there being more than enough thematic unity in the whole to prevent things getting over-indulgently 'romantic' or superficially 'expressive'. One of Fauré's most admirable capabilities was to combine restraint with utterly sublime beauty, and this facet of his musical genius is again revealed here in its full glory. The opening movement serves as an autumnal, nostalgia-filled overture to the poignantly introspective but also curiously relaxed and contended slow movement reverie (marked andantino), which flows along unhurriedly like any late and lazy summer's day; then, suddenly, in the closing movement we are faced with glimpses of an irresistible and almost mischievous glee, as the piano accompaniment urges the strings onwards to the joyfully ecstatic final bars. The CD booklet quotation (from Verlaine) on 'balance between fantasy and reason' hits the nail squarely on the head here - words that would be more appropriate to describe the overall feeling conveyed are hard to find.

The Florestan Trio, comprising three excellent musicians that already proved their unique élan with Fauré on the earlier Hyperion issues of the composer's chamber works, simply leaves nothing to be wished for. After a few first listens, the listener will find herself wondering whether a performance of these works could in any way be more refined or, if such epithets are allowed, perfect. The same can be said for the recording itself, which is crisp and clear, yet warm and full in sonority. Rival performances -at least when it comes to Fauré- are surprisingly hard to come by on disc; among the ones known to myself, there is an excellent 70's version released on Erato by a French ensemble (Hubois, Gallois-Montbrun & Navarra); there is the Trio Fontenay recording of this very same repertoire (on Teldec, also reviewed on Amazon, please do look it up for your interest) which, however, I have not yet heard but would love to - I have always found that with music as compellingly beautiful as this, you are always eager to get acquainted with as many different versions as possible. Nevertheless, if I had to contend with only one recording, very likely this Hyperion issue would be it.

Warmly recommended to all chamber music lovers, especially those who for some reason may deem Fauré as an 'inferior country cousin' to Debussy and Ravel. And, although it is maybe somewhat beside the point, I would also like to echo the Trio Fontenay reviewer's recommendation of a hot cup of Darjeeling to go with this music.

This is not a bad performance of the Ravel trio by any means, and in fact served as a great introduction to the piece for me, but after hearing the magical recording by Rubinstein/Heifetz/Piatigorsky, I find myself constantly desiring more when coming back to this one: the poignancy and balance in the first movement, the drive of the second and fourth, the passion at the emotional points of the third, and so on. Cases in point include the two sections with whole-tone descending octaves on the piano in the Pantoum, and the violin's first entrance and the climax of the Passacaille. I feel that this is too "careful" a recording. Despite all this, it's probably asking too much for anyone to equal those masters, and as I said this is actually an excellent recording. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a good introduction to this masterpiece.

The Work(s):

Three very different trios at three very different place in each composer's life. Faure's trio (at the end of his life) is filled with Mozartian's deceptive symplicity containing just as much depth and tension as resolution and expansiviness. Debussy's trio is a youth piece (at 18) and is very charming. The scherzo is particularly entertaining and filled with playful and entertaining counter-play. Ravel's trio is the only one from the "main period" of the three composers and shows a remarqualy mastery of a difficult genre. The balance between the three instruments is particularly well achieved and each movement exposes and exploits very creative material.

The Performance:

Very convincing. A bit "tight" at times, but in general it is a superior interpretation worth investagating what else the Florestan Trio has recorded.

The Audio:

The SACD is very good and presents the instruments very naturally (no sound treatment used as far as I could tell). Not necessarily a showcase for the technology, but better than a CD.

While tempermentally cooler than the Beaux Arts or Eroica Trio in comparison, The Florestan Trio gives beautifully shaped and paced performances.
And how splendid the DSD/SACD sound is for chamber music!

Fauré is the oldest composer on this disc, but his piano trio is still the most recent work among them. It is a stunning work and indeed perhaps the best on the disc. The tonal language is rooted in the 19th century, but Fauré's lyrical, wistfully dark search for a stable tonal resolution yields an utterly compelling masterpiece. So does Ravel's voluptuous, sensual and somewhat more forward-looking piano trio from 1914. The Debussy work is an early student effort and, while competently written, not really in any way predictive of his later style.

The performances are uniformly excellent. The Florestan Trio are indeed more than any other group I've heard in these works able to play this works with a single interpretative voice; the instruments are perfectly balanced against each other and the discursive nature of the works splendidly realized. I have not heard this disc on Super-Audio equipment myself, but even on a conventional CD player the sound quality is superbly balanced, clear and detailed. Strongly recommended.