2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Mendelssohn you don't often hear, August 20, 2010
This review is from: Mendelssohn: Piano Trios (Audio CD)
Mendelssohn's two piano trios are the kind of music you hear for the first time and feel your jaw drop, wondering how music of this quality and poignancy could have escaped your notice. Far from being lighter Mendelssohn fare a la "Midsummer Night's Dream," these two works burst with emotional intensity, containing all the hallmarks for which Mendelssohn was famous - complex and driven outer movements, fleet scherzi, and wistfully nostalgic slow movements. The c minor trio in particular is as dark and focused as anything Beethoven wrote in that key, and I do not say that lightly. This is not music for casual listening.
Fortunately, the Trio Wanderer is more than up to the task. I've liked every one of their recordings I've heard for the same reasons: their technical prowess, their fluid playing and their carefully applied emotional intensity - all the more powerful for eschewing glitz and driving straight to the emotional core of each piece. These are all qualities that Mendelssohn's music cries out for, given Mendelssohn's penchant for scurrying string lines, subtle harmonic shifts, and an abundance of notes - and these two trios are particularly well served by the Wanderer Trio's very Gallic and seemingly paradoxical blend of astringency and passion.
This album is one of the rare instances in the classical-music world where I'm actually not sure these pieces could be recorded any "better" - the incredible blend of poise and intensity is just too overwhelming to imagine any feasible competition. If you're still not convinced to take the plunge, do yourself a favor and buy the MP3 of just the first movement of the c-minor trio. Let it rock your world for nine and a half minutes, and then come back for the rest of the CD.
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