What happened to the 8th Variation
J. Grant | North Carolina, USA | 01/28/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I love the Beaux Arts Trio. Recordings of the piano trios of Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms & several others that I have led me to aquire this set. And, as usual, I was quite happy after I listened to the first couple of discs. But when I got to Tchaikovsky's trio, things changed. I was stunned to discover that they unexplicably left off the 8th variation. I'm also a bit surprised the other reviewers didn't notice this fact. This is quite a shame, because up to that point I was thinking that this was one of the best Tchaikovsky op.50's I had heard. I'm also not that fond of this rendering of the Shostakovich, which is not that big of a deal since I don't really much care for his work anyway. Aside from that, everything else is wonderful, especially the Schumann & Mendelssohn. Very enjoyable & well worth the price. Would have been an easy 5 star rating if not for the Tchaikovsky & Shostakovich. For a great performance of the Tchaikovsky, try the Rubinstein, Heifetz, Piatigorsky on RCA."
Add it to your collection
Jonathan Boyce | Fairfied, CT | 09/18/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Uniformly great playing on recordings spanning eight years, eleven compositions, and two violinists is not an easy feat, but the BAT does it admirably here. Excellent also is the sound: analog to digital remastering sounds like an LP to my ears, and the balance of the three instruments is always even and well tempered. True, I am on more than one compostion drawn to Pressler's beautiful cantabile touch more than the other instruments, but the violin and cello are always first rate.
Nine of the pieces are 19th century, Romantic works which are paired with two from the 20th: Ives and Shostakovich. They deftly and successfully handle the disparate styles.
Thirty dollars will get you over five hours of pleasure on four discs. Highly recommended."
OPENING UP A HEW WORLD TO ME
Michael Capizzi | Illinois, USA | 11/12/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I'm ashamed to admit that after 50 years of listening to classical music, I encountered the Beaux Arts Trio by accident recently on the NPR website. I listened to their farewell conert last August, and was thunderstruck. This is beautiful music that resonates deeply. The playing of all three members (whomever they might be at any given time) is exemplary. I don't want to sound goofy, but the piano playing, especially, brings to mind that old Shakespearean quote we had to memorize in high school, ..."it dropeth like the gentle rain from heaven upon the place beneath". But more amazing to me is the cello, which is more sensed that heard often in these recordings. It must take an extroadinary love for the music and high regard for one's felow musicians to subordinate one's sound to theirs in order to produce such incredible music. Surely this is the foundation which allows the trio to create music of such high quality. Others wil provide the more professonal review. I can only say that these cds have become among my very favorites. An absolute must for any collection. Highly recommended.
Finally, a small note referencing a previous reviewer who cites the missing variation in the Tchaikovsky teio. Such a flaw, while real, is irrelevant to loving these recordings."
