Schumann: Complete Piano Trios

Solid Schumann.

I guess I'm going to be the wet blanket and give this good recording its only 4-star review as of this writing. Recorded here is some of Schumann's greatest chamber music (the Piano Quartet and Piano Quintet) and some of his very fine but less successful chamber music (the Trios), all for piano and strings.

At over 140 minutes, this set is certainly a good value and is ideal for those who are building a CD collection of standard repertoire or those who would like a solid recording of the trios, works that are recorded less often, much less offered as a complete set of three. While the Quartet and Quintet are the more inspired and show Schumann's renewed interest in the Classical forms he inherited from Beethoven, the trios are more idiosyncratic and, except for the outer movements of the F-major op. 80, revert to a style that reflects his earlier piano masterpieces and in combination with the strings, has some similarities with his lieder. The music is discursive, ruminative, and sometimes not altogether successfully balanced such as the sprawling development of the first movement of the d-minor Trio op. 63 or most of the austere g-minor Trio op. 110. While I would perhaps like a performance with more vitality, it is in the autumnal slow movements of many of these works that the Beaux Arts and friends sound their best, particularly the 'Mit Innigem Ausdruck' from the F-major Trio.

Other reviewers have praised the recording's sound, but I have to disagree. Compared to the excellent recording I have of the Emerson Quartet plus Menahem Pressler (the same pianist as in the recording here) playing the Quartet and Quintet, this one sounds a bit muffled and muddy. Whether this is due to the recording space or an unsuccessful analog to digital transfer with the Beaux Arts, I cannot confirm. The excitement and reverberation of the Emerson recording is simply not present here.

Here's my humble advice: If you're looking for a good, solid recording of the complete piano trios of Schumann, this is a good performance and a good value. Since the g-minor Trio is a less successful work overall, you may want to stick to just the first two trios. In that case, there are other better recordings available. If you're looking for a good recording of the Quartet and Quintet, there are many better recordings available. If you're building a CD collection, this is a good though not great addition; these Philips DUO recordings are excellent choices for filling in the holes and for enjoying some great music. September 7, 2008

holy smoke.

now i'm just a big dummy. i really am. but somehow classical music got through my thick skull and into my heart. so glad that it did. these recordings from 1975 by the beaux arts trio are spectacular works of chamber music. mr schumann's compositions are given a vibrantly intense and dramatic going over by these great musicians. soul-stirring stuff in every way. this is the sound of a musical springtime, all green invention and sunshine for the spirit. the violin, cello, and piano tunnel through the music, unearthing and displaying its potential and grace. i listened to the entire two hours and twenty minutes of glorious music that's on these discs this morning, and it was a great experience indeed. i highly highly recommend this set to any and all music lovers. this whole affair is a masterpiece of grand compositions in the hands of brilliant performers. April 16, 2007

A linkage between the past and the modernism!

If Goethe's Werther was the prototype of the Romantic hero per excellence, inflaming the imagination and creativeness of newcomer artists, I guess the legitimate Ambassador in the music, had its embodiment around the egregious figure of Robert Schumann. No other composer in the history of the music has embraced new genres and styles with as much febrile intensity, uncertainty but at the same time with as much determination as did Schumann. The remarkable fact he had composed 138 songs in just one year, supports with striking stubbornness he blended music and poetry; despite of the fact his enormous knowledge of literature. Of course the main pivot for his incursions in the chamber music were his passionate analysis around Beethoven's late Quartets. His immense devotion for the chamber music was in visible counter flow with the tendencies of the New German School. He was aware about the dissolution of the piano as protagonist instrument ( just think in Busoni `s Piano concerto, for instance) and in this sense he consecrated all his efforts to preserve and defend the power of expression of the noblest instrument.

On the other hand, the set of Trios surmounted the well known Op. 54's Piano Concerto. That reveals a very careful design in the tonal architecture, interlinking parts and polyphonal material which points to the future and Brahms securely had to have discussed this issue with his friend.
Such emblematic attitude made that composers such Mahler and Schoenberg were so influenced due its modernist projections.

The second is by far, the most romantic of the set with Schubertian reminiscences try to realize th far echoes of the last movement of Cesar Franck's Sonata for violin in the third movement of this trio, while the last one is evidently as we expected the most futurist of the three; and you certainly may find seminal seeds for modern age and the Viennese school of the early ages of the XX Century.

So, consider a wise acquisition to have these distinguished and refined Trios because reflect fundamental works that far to be transitional were the most perfect linkage between the dying Romanticism and the arousing musical modernism and illustrates wisely that smart statement of Octavio Paz: "The past is function of the future. The will of future makes the dead bodies stand and puts order in its works..."
November 28, 2006

great deal

These are well-played and well-recorded versions of these pieces. The price is also right.
Personally I found Schumann's compositions excessively mercurial at times but that's my problem. If you like him this should'nt be missed. October 11, 2005

Excellent performances, superb value

This collection of Schumann's piano trios, Op. 47 piano quartet, and Op. 44 piano quintet is excellent, epsecially since it's offered at Philips' Duo (2-for-1 price). Having recently performed the piano quartet and quintet, I can say that the Beaux Arts Trio brings much finesse, refinement, and superb musical judgment to these performances. The famous Quintet gets an oustanding performance, not as volatile as the live EMI recording led by Martha Argerich, but then without that recording's self-indulgence either. I think the piano quartet is underrated; it has a absolutely beautiful slow movement and an exhilarating last movement filled with counterpoint. The Beaux Arts gives it an excellent performance, though the slow movement seems rather too ponderous and lacking the radiance it should have. The piano trios aren't as well known: they come from later in Schumann's career and are often considered inferior to the earlier works. I cannot agree, especially in the case of the first two trios, which cotrast beautifully, the first one passionate and tragic, the second one lighter and fresher, almost Schubertian, both with beautiful slow movements. The snag is that the first trio is split between the two discs, which is an inconvenience. Very good sound, too. By the way, if you enjoy the trios, you should also check out the Florestan Trio's two outstanding discs on Hyperion (one with the first two trios, the other with the Piano Quartet, the third trio, and the Op. 88 Fantasiestücke for piano trio). The Florestan's performances are perhaps more imaginative than the Beaux Arts', and they are even better recorded. April 7, 2002

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