Antonín Dvořák; Zdeněk Fibich; Bohuslav Martinů - Piano Trios (Smetana Trio)

Information

Composer: Antonín Dvořák; Zdeněk Fibich; Bohuslav Martinů

• Dvořák - Piano Trio No. 1 in B flat major, Op. 21 B 51
• Fibich - Piano Trio in F minor
• Martinů - Piano Trio No. 2 in D minor, H 327

Smetana Trio

    Jitka Čechová, piano

    Jana Vonášková-Nováková, violin

    Jan Páleníček, cello

Date: 2007

Label: Supraphon

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Review

The Smetanas, led by cellist Jan Pálenícek, son of Josef Pálenícek, one of the founders of the original Smetana Trio in 1931, give inspired, totally idiomatic performances of these well contrasted Czech works. Much the most ambitious work is this first of Dvorák’s four trios, written when he was 34 with his Czech idiom firmly established. The other trios, each barely 15 minutes long, are fascinating rarities.

The earliest of the three is that by Zdenek Fibich, written in 1872 when he was only 21. With its positive ideas, starting with a bold opening gesture, the urgency of the outer movements very much reflects a young man’s inspiration. It is all the more attractive in such a compact format, though the Czech flavours are not very strong. The first movement, warmly lyrical, ends with an exciting coda, while the energetic finale brings brilliant piano writing. The central slow movement is simple and songful, an Adagio under three minutes long which does not even boast a contrasting B section.

The Martinu dates from his last years, when his style had mellowed and become more traditional. Again the layout is fast-slow-fast, urgently purposeful in the first movement and with a moto perpetuo main theme in the finale. The slow movement has some gritty writing in the middle with one weird, hushed passage in which the violin plays in an ethereal pianissimo.

The Dvorák is on quite a different scale, though this performance, unlike that of the Borodin Trio, omits the exposition repeat in the first movement. That is no great loss, when it is already longer than any of the other three movements. The Smetanas give a wonderfully refined performance which is yet strong and energetic. They bring an attractive lightness to the third-movement Allegretto scherzando and a fine swagger in the finale, again light and sparkling. Altogether an impressive disc, very well recorded.

— Edward Greenfield

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Antonín Dvořák (September 8, 1841 – May 1, 1904) was a Czech composer. He was the second Czech composer to achieve worldwide recognition, after Bedřich Smetana. Following Smetana's nationalist example, many of Dvořák's works show the influence of Czech folk music, such as his  two sets of Slavonic Dances, the Symphonic Variations, and the overwhelming majority of his songs. Dvořák wrote in a variety of forms: nine symphonies, ten operas, three concertos, several symphonic poems, serenades for string orchestra and wind ensemble, more than 40 works of chamber music, and piano music.

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Zdeněk Fibich (21 December 1850 – 15 October 1900) was a Czech composer. He studied under such prominent musicians as Ignaz Moscheles and Salomon Jadassohn in Leipzig and Mannheim, then settled in Prague from 1874. Influenced early by Weber, Mendelssohn, Schumann, and later by Wagner, Fibich composed many songs and operas in German, gaining acclaim from German critics but less so from Czechs. His later operas were mostly in Czech, but often based on non-Czech literary works. He integrated Bohemian folk elements into his chamber music and was a pioneer in composing Czech nationalist tone poems.

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Bohuslav Martinů (December 8, 1890 – August 28, 1959) was a Czech composer of modern classical music. He was a violinist in the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, and briefly studied under Czech composer and violinist Josef Suk. Martinů was a prolific composer who wrote almost 400 pieces. Many of his works are regularly performed or recorded, among them his oratorio The Epic of Gilgamesh, his six symphonies, concertos, chamber music, a flute sonata, a clarinet sonatina and many others. Martinů's notable students include Alan Hovhaness, Vítězslava Kaprálová, Jan Novák and many others.

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Founded in 1934 by Czech pianist Josef Páleníček, the Smetana Trio is one of the Czech Republic's foremost chamber ensembles. It regularly appears at major festivals and concert halls in the Czech Republic and internationally, including in Europe, the Americas, Asia and Africa. The Trio has collaborated with leading conductors such as Jiří Bělohlávek and Libor Pešek, and performed with renowned orchestras like the Bamberg Symphony and the Prague Philharmonic. Since 2000, it has recorded extensively for the Supraphon label, earning numerous prestigious awards for its recordings both at home and abroad.

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