Search - Ludwig van Beethoven, The Castle Trio :: Beethoven - Piano Trios Opp. 1 & 11 / The Castle Trio

Very fine at any price

William J. Mertens | Bethesda, MD USA | 06/28/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"These 2 discs contain fine performances of fine, early Beethoven. Anyone who likes Beethoven, or classical and/or romantic chamber music, should be very happy with these recordings.



About the performers: The Castle Trio, period instrument performers, have been together since 1984, and their experience together shows in these finely integrated performances. They have appeared regularly as trio-in-residence at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History in Washington, DC. Pianist Lambert Orkis (here on a period-style forte-piano) is pianist for the National Symphony Orchestra and chief accompanist for Ann Sophie Mutter. The more percussive style of his instrument, compared to modern pianos, well suits this music, for which it was written. Really, you couldn't ask for more from a period instrument performance of this music.



As for the work: The opus 1 trios are the first compositions that Beethoven published for the general public. They are not juvenile works. At age 24 when they were published (they were first performed 2 years earlier), Beethoven already was an accomplished composer residing in Vienna. And already, Beethoven was breaking the classical mold that he inherited from Haydn and Mozart.



Before these, piano trios were mostly easy to perform (and hear) pieces, intended for amateur performers in their homes. Beethoven wrote virtuoso parts for each of the instruments. And he made the trios of symphonic length, adding a fourth movement (minuetto or scherzo) to what had been a 3-movement form. Each of the opus 1 trios clocks in here at over 30 minutes. Especially in the sonata-allegro form first movements, Beethoven also wrote music of symphonic depth, though he would not premier his first symphony for another 5 years, until 1800.



Famously, Haydn advised Beethoven not to publish the no. 3 trio, in c minor, because Haydn believed it was too advanced for Viennese audiences of the day. Haydn may have been right about Viennese tastes, but Beethoven took great offense, and he performed and published it anyway. We should be grateful. This proto-romantic work is the most expressive of the 3.



The Castle Trio rounds out the Opus 1 performances with the 3-movement Opus 11 trio, published in 1798, and two without-opus trios."