Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky; Anton Arensky - Piano Trios (Trio Wanderer)

Information

Composer: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky; Anton Arensky

• Arensky - Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor, Op. 32
• Tchaikovsky - Piano Trio in A minor, Op. 50

Trio Wanderer

    Jean-Marc Phillips-Varjabédian, violin

    Raphaël Pidoux, cello

    Vincent Coq, piano

Date: 2012

Label: harmonia mundi

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Review

Tchaikovsky’s Piano Trio set the example for Russian composers, perhaps with memories of Glinka’s Trio pathétique, of the medium as one charged with emotion and often elegiac, a tradition which extended down as far as Shostakovich. It was his friend and mentor Nikolai Rubinstein for whom Tchaikovsky was grieving, deeply enough for him to overcome his previous resistance to combining piano and strings. He did not make matters easy for his interpreters, with crashing eight-note chords in the piano and other difficulties, ones which the admirable Trio Wanderer deal with partly by toning down the forte markings intelligently. The pianist, Vincent Coq, is both brilliant and sensitive, taking great trouble over balance with the strings while dazzling the ear with his lightly scintillating virtuosity in the more sparkling variation movements. The ‘musical box’ variation tinkles along merrily and glides into one of Tchaikovsky’s most elegant waltzes, which, the players are careful to remind us, attaches itself to the Russian ballet world and not that of the Viennese ballroom. They deal well with the protracted final fugue, accepting the cuts offered by the composer, nervous of outstaying his welcome.

Arensky, unkindly dismissed by his teacher Rimsky-Korsakov as doomed to oblivion, has survived partly thanks to his own fine Trio, in memory of the cellist Karl Davydov. The Adagio is a touching elegy, gently expressed in this performance, and if the Scherzo, in debt to Mendelssohn as well as Tchaikovsky, is slightly repetitious of its main idea, playing as skilful as this presents it in its most attractive light.

— John Warrack

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Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Romantic Russian composer. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of the most popular concert and theatrical music in the current classical repertoire, including the ballets Swan Lake and The Nutcracker, the 1812 Overture, his First Piano Concerto, Violin Concerto, the Romeo and Juliet Overture-Fantasy, several symphonies, and the opera Eugene Onegin. Despite his many popular successes, Tchaikovsky's life was punctuated by personal crises and depression.

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Anton Arensky ( 12 July 1861 – 25 February 1905) was a Russian composer, pianist and teacher. A student of Tchaikovsky, Arensky composed in various genres, including symphonic works, chamber music, choral music, and operas. His most famous work is perhaps the Variations on a Theme of Tchaikovsky, Op. 35a. Arensky's music blends Russian folk elements with lush, romantic harmonies, though it is often overshadowed by his contemporaries. He held teaching positions at the Moscow Conservatory and influenced many students, such as Alexander Scriabin, Sergei Rachmaninov and Alexander Grechaninov.

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Trio Wanderer's members all graduated from the Paris Conservatoire. In 1988, they won the ARD Competition in Munich and, in 1990, the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition in the US. The Trio has performed on the most prestigious stages, collaborated with famous artists, and has been accompanied in triple or double concertos by renowned orchestras around the world. Trio Wanderer has recorded more than 20 CDs for Harmonia Mundi since 1999, as well as recordings produced by Sony Classical, Accord, Cyprès, Cappricio and Mirare. Their recordings have been repeatedly recognized by critics and won multiple prizes.

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