Shostakovich/Tchaikovsky: Piano Trios

Dmitry Shostakovich (Composer), Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky (Composer), Peter Kiesewetter (Composer), Martha Argerich (Performer), Gidon Kremer (Performer), Mischa Maisky (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Martha Argerich, Gidon Kremer, Mischa Maisky
• Composer: Dmitry Shostakovich, Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky, Peter Kiesewetter
• Audio CD (August 10, 1999)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Deutsche Grammophon
• ASIN: B00000JSAC
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #53,754 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #100 in Music > World Music > Latin Music > Tango

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Although these musicians have previously played together in duos, you aren't likely to hear the trio of Martha Argerich, Gidon Kremer, and Mischa Maisky every day. The friends have attempted to perform as a threesome for decades, but it took sheer luck, and a few 1998 dates in Japan, to find the acclaimed pianist, violinist, and cellist onstage together. Recorded as a tribute to Reinhard Paulsen, the late manager of Argerich and Kremer, this disc features two of chamber music's darkest pieces: Shostakovich's op. 67 and Tchaikovsky's op. 50 for piano and strings. Both composers wrote these works as elegies, and the effect of the pairing is riveting; the Shostakovich is bleak and occasionally violent (the use of Jewish melodies makes this as much a remembrance of the Holocaust as of any individual), while Tchaikovsky's epic, nearly 50-minute piece requires more patience but is even more expansive. Though the musicians haven't performed these pieces before, they have an intuitive grasp of the music--Kremer seems meant for these lyrical, personal violin passages, and Argerich is ready to unleash her fury at a moment's notice. Sonically, Maisky's cello is slightly obscured by his powerhouse peers, but he serves as a sobering backbone to these compositions. The very short tango by contemporary Peter Kiesewetter acts as an encore, a two-minute reminder that these friends know how to have fun too. --Jason Verlinde

Product Description

No Description Available.
Genre: Classical Music
Media Format: Compact Disk
Rating:
Release Date: 10-AUG-1999

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Really wonderful!! (but could be recorded better...), August 13, 1999

By 

Emanuele Passerini ([e-mail]) (Milano, Italy) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shostakovich/Tchaikovsky: Piano Trios (Audio CD)

I had been waiting for this CD for months and now I got it. Well, it's really fantastic how these three musicians play together with perfect inter-play, it's a very involving experience. And these trios are some of the most beautiful music I've ever heard, played with a precious "russian" spirit. The only bad thing to say is that recording quality is not so good, although it's one of the last Deutsche Grammophon production. Anyway, buy it!!!!

27 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BUY IT, August 16, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Shostakovich/Tchaikovsky: Piano Trios (Audio CD)

Wait until you hear these recordings, you will not believe your ears. These three extraordinary artists fully understand one another and this music, otherwise how could they play it with such ferociousness yet dignity and pathos. Two masterpieces wholly realized by three of the worlds greatest musicians. To think the concert tour from which this live recording was taken almost didn't happen. Luckily for us, it did. BUY IT!

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Draining performances, December 15, 2000

By 

Michael Whincop (GRIFFITH UNIVERSITY, QLD AUSTRALIA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shostakovich/Tchaikovsky: Piano Trios (Audio CD)

These live performances are from Japan. They are wholly individual, representing a synergistic combination from some of the most compelling personalities in classical music. They are alternatively fierce, despairing, exultant. It's important not to think that these works are just played for all they're worth, with every ounce of sentimentality rung out of them. That's not so. The Shostakovich is an ideal example of this. Its score is often spare to the point of gauntness, and AKM render this perfectly. But the terrifying finale is delivered with a desperate, hopeless passion, driven by loss and outrage. The Tchaikovsky is also superb. I cannot think of any performance of any work by this composer -- even Mravinsky's Pathetique -- which approaches the emotional intensity of this performance. The execution is not perfect, but details seem to assume minor importance in the face of this recreation. The return of the theme in the finale is cataclysmic in its impact. The encore is also wonderful -- a mix of whimsy and passion.