Search - Franz Joseph Haydn, Beaux Arts Trio :: Haydn: 9 Piano Trios [Hybrid SACD]

Some of the classic Beaux Arts Trio recordings of the Haydn

J Scott Morrison | Middlebury VT, USA | 05/01/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I well remember the great buzz over the release of the Beaux Arts Trio's recordings of all the Haydn piano trios back in the late 1970s. They came as a revelation, even to those of us who thought we knew our Haydn. The trios, with few exceptions, had been woefully neglected both in the concert hall and on recordings. And indeed the Beaux Arts complete traversal remains the only one ever made, as far as I know*. Some, perhaps all, of the recordings were made in the then-current 'quadraphonic' system of recording. In those days before CDs, there was a brief heyday of four-track LP recordings made by Philips. Those LPs required special equipment and few people invested in the system. But the four-track tapes of all kinds of music were archived by Philips and a new company founded by former Philips engineers -- the Pentatone label -- had obtained rights to those tapes and there has been a steady stream of releases on SACD since they went into business. One supposes that this mid-price two-SACD pack is but the first release of the Beaux Arts Trio's Haydn piano trios in SACD format. The regular stereo box set of 9 CDs has never been out of print and thus one imagines that Pentatone intends to release a total of 9 SACDs with the same content. These performances certainly set a standard for the presentation of these trios.



There are nine trios on this set and although the Hoboken Catalog numbers make it look like they are the early trios in Haydn's output, that is deceiving. It is true that the trio here with the lowest Hoboken number, XV/2, dates from the late 1760s and is more like a suite or divertimento, most of the nine of the trios on these discs came from the middle to late 1780s. Haydn still considered them to be works for piano with violin and cello accompaniment, and consequently the piano part -- here played with his customary élan by Menahem Pressler -- is in the musical foreground. As the piano trio form was new it had not yet developed into the partnership of equals that it became in the hands of Haydn's younger colleagues, Mozart and Beethoven. To the very end of the series of trios Haydn wrote the cello part mainly as amplification of the piano's bass line.



The recordings were made in the fabled acoustic of the Amsterdam's Concertgebouw. The sound back then was startlingly good, and the sound on these remastered discs remains amazingly good. There is plenty of presence in the sound and there is ample space around Pressler's piano, Isidore Cohen's violin and Bernard Greenhouse's cello. These are hybrid SACD discs which can be played on SACD as well as regular stereo equipment. I honestly don't hear a great deal of difference between the two playback methods but there is more bloom in the SACD version. I do, however, hear a clearer and more lifelike sound on these discs than I do on the regular stereo box-set of all the trios. Haydn: Complete Piano Trios There has been noticeable improvement, thanks to Pentatone's engineers.



A word to the wise: Those looking for the most famous of the Haydn piano trios, the so-called 'Gypsy', Hob. 15/25, will not find it here. Presumably it will be released in due time.



Amazon has not, as of the date of this review, listed the set's contents.

They are:

Trio in F, Hob. 15/2

Trio in B flat, Hob. 15/8

Trio in F, Hob. 15/6

Trio in G, Hob. 15/5

Trio in E flat, Hob. 15/10

Trio in D, Hob. 15/7

Trio in A, Hob. 15/9

Trio in E minor, Hob. 15/12

Trio in E flat, Hob. 15/11



Strongly recommended.



Scott Morrison



* A eagle-eyed reader has kindly let me know that there is a box set of all the Haydn Trios performed by the Haydn Trio Eisenstadt. Haydn: The Piano Trios [Box Set] I have not heard them.



S.M."

As good as it gets

Colin Rose | Sydney | 10/10/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This 2-disc set has been a splendid double surprise for me.



The 9 Piano Trios included here are:



Piano Trio in F, Hob XV:2

Piano Trio in B flat, Hob XV:8

Piano Trio in F, Hob XV:6

Piano Trio in G, Hob XV:5

Piano Trio in E flat, Hob XV:10



Piano Trio in D, Hob XV:7

Piano Trio in A, Hob XV:9

Piano Trio in E minor, Hob XV:12

Piano Trio in E flat, Hob XV:11





* Surprise the first: fabulous pieces



I am not generally a Haydn fan - I find that his multitude of symphonies leave me generally uninspired ... and that the choral works tend towards being heavy-handed. And even though I have played the violin part in the Gypsy piano trio, I have never really gotten to know the Piano trios. But I had clearly ignored them to my own detriment .. they are wonderfully elegant pieces. The original Beaux Arts Trio (Menahem Pressler, Isidore Cohen and Bernard Greenhouse) are legends of the chamber music world ... and their performances here are everything you might hope for... and then more. Stylish, polished and simply superb.





* Surprise the second: fabulous sonics



The second surprise for me ... is how absolutely splendid the sonics are. Outrageously good! I can't believe how good. Absolutely delightful. Although originally recorded in 1976 - it sounds like it was recorded in DSD yesterday. It is clean, soooooooo pure, so live, natural and real ... and warm ... and everything a recording could ever be on my SACD stereo set-up. I tried listening to the standard CD layer too, just out of interest, and it was comparatively drab, digital and dross. I can't believe the difference the SACD format makes here.



As good as it gets. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.



P.S. The dual disc set is sold at a single SACD price -- wunderbar!

P.P.S. For multi-channel fans, the original Philips recordings started life as quadro recordings (RQR) ... so all the multi-channel information is there."