GODARD : Complete Piano Trios (Trio Parnassus) (2010) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Best-known (and for many, only known) for his opera Jocelyn, French composer Benjamin Godard produced an abundance of music in his short 45-year life that is rarely performed. Among his forgotten works are two piano trios, written in 1880 and 1884. Compared to other works in the genre from the same time period, Godard's trios are certainly lacking in the same level of sophistication, gravitas, or stand-alone ability on a concert program. Still, the two trios heard on this MDG Gold album are melodically pleasing, possessing rich, non-progressive Romantic harmonies. The finale of the F major sonata is among the more exciting moments, with its intense rhythmic drive and pizzicato strings. Chamber music aficionados will certainly find merit to these works. The Trio Parnassus, who has undertaken many projects to revitalize long-forgotten literature, comes to Godard's rescue here. Having successfully breathed new life into the trios of Lalo, Korngold, Vasks, and the like, Trio Parnassus has a track record of taking slightly less interesting works and imbuing them with a sense of commitment, attention to detail, forward momentum, broad-ranging dynamics, and measured sentimentality. The resulting performance here is one of respect for the score and the composer, polished technical skills, nice balance, and a sense of true chamber music collaboration. Listeners seeking to expand their repertoire will do well with this and other installments by the Trio Parnassus.  Mike D. Brownell

JOSEPH RHEINBERGER : Complete Piano Trios (Trio Parnassus) (1992) 2CD / FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

  This two-hour double-disc set of Joseph Rheinberger's complete piano trios is a hefty contribution to the rehabilitation of the composer's oeuvre, though it may be more than the average listener can appreciate in one sitting. Rheinberger's music is earnest and perhaps too heavy for some tastes, and it may even seem too stodgy and dryly theoretical. In his mature Romantic style, his reliance on Classical form, and his pensive expression, Rheinberger often resembles Brahms, though it must be said that he lacks Brahms' rhythmic ingenuity, contrapuntal dexterity, and emotional depth. The resemblances between them are really superficial, and listeners may find these four piano trios lackluster and frustratingly dull in comparison with Brahms' three certified masterpieces. Added to this set's problems are the foggy and overly lush playing by Trio Parnassus, and MDG's indistinct and excessively resonant sound quality. If violinist Wolf-Dieter Streicher, cellist Michael Gross, and pianist Chia Chou had played these pieces with more flexibility of tone and sharper characterizations, and if the label had recorded them in a hall with a dry acoustic, the results might have been palatable. Alas, getting through these murky recordings is a hard slog, and they are only recommended for the most serious-minded of Rheinberger's devotees. by Blair Sanderson 
Tracklist 1 :
Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor, Op. 34    
Piano Trio No. 2 in A major, Op. 112    
Tracklist 2 :
Piano Trio No. 3 in B flat major, Op. 121    
Piano Trio No. 4 in F major, Op. 191

SCHARWENKA : Piano Trios; Cello Sonata (Trio Parnassus) (1994) Mp3

 
 

PÉTERIS VASKS : Piano Trio; Piano Quartet (Trio Parnassus) (2008) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

 
At the climaxes of both these chamber works by Latvian composer Péteris Vasks are love songs. The eight-movement piano trio called Episodi e Canto perpetuo from 1985 reaches its peak with the achingly beautiful Canto perpetuo while the six-movement Quartet for piano from 2000-2001 achieves its apogee in the searingly effective Canto principale. Vasks harmonic language is fundamentally tonal, though with some fairly fearsome dissonances, and his sensibility is resolutely post-modernist, though shot through with a neo-romantic expressivity. Performed here with insight and strength by the Trio Parnassus, Vasks works hard to be understood by his listeners, and though his expressive range is wide and deep, the Parnassus players get it all to make musical and dramatic sense. Recorded in transparent yet palpable digital sound by Musikproduktion Dabringhaus und Grimm, this disc deserves to be heard by fans of the composer and by listeners who like contemporary music of the not especially fearsome variety. by James Leonard

BENJAMIN GODARD - Complete Piano Trios (2010) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Best-known (and for many, only known) for his opera Jocelyn, French composer Benjamin Godard produced an abundance of music in his short 45-year life that is rarely performed. Among his forgotten works are two piano trios, written in 1880 and 1884. Compared to other works in the genre from the same time period, Godard's trios are certainly lacking in the same level of sophistication, gravitas, or stand-alone ability on a concert program. Still, the two trios heard on this MDG Gold album are melodically pleasing, possessing rich, non-progressive Romantic harmonies. The finale of the F major sonata is among the more exciting moments, with its intense rhythmic drive and pizzicato strings. Chamber music aficionados will certainly find merit to these works. The Trio Parnassus, who has undertaken many projects to revitalize long-forgotten literature, comes to Godard's rescue here. Having successfully breathed new life into the trios of Lalo, Korngold, Vasks, and the like, Trio Parnassus has a track record of taking slightly less interesting works and imbuing them with a sense of commitment, attention to detail, forward momentum, broad-ranging dynamics, and measured sentimentality. The resulting performance here is one of respect for the score and the composer, polished technical skills, nice balance, and a sense of true chamber music collaboration. Listeners seeking to expand their repertoire will do well with this and other installments by the Trio Parnassus. by Mike D. Brownell 

ROBERT SCHUMANN - Piano Quartets (2006) APE (image+.cue), lossless

While it is always wonderful to have a recording of Schumann's early C minor Piano Quartet coupled with his mature E flat major Piano Quartet, the result of that coupling is usually only half a disc of listenable music. Because while the E flat major quartet is surely one of the masterpieces of the repertoire, the C minor quartet is, as its composer once sadly described it, "botched." The reason for this is straight-forward. The E flat quartet written when Schumann was 32 has the passion of youth joined with the technique of maturity, while the C minor quartet written when the composer was 19 has the passion of youth expressed without temperance -- or indeed, competence. Schumann's E flat quartet is assuredly on the same level as Mozart or Brahms' works in the genre, but his C minor quartet is worth hearing only if you really love the E flat quartet.
Nevertheless, the Trio Parnassus with guest violist Hariolf Schlichtig insists on performing both works with absolute and unswerving dedication in this 2006 recording, and while the result couldn't be described as revelatory, the performances of both works are equally persuasive. In the E flat quartet, the musicians have the expressivity, the intensity, the drive, and the vigor of Schumann at his mature best. And in the C minor quartet, they have the same qualities -- without emotional restraint but with complete technical control. As captured in Musikproduktion Dabringhaus und Grimm's silver and gold sound, this E flat quartet sounds as good as the best ever recorded, while the C minor quartet sounds better than one could ever have imagined it.  by James Leonard 

JOHANN NEPUMUK HUMMEL : Complete Piano Trios (Trio Parnassus) (1989) 2CD Mp3

W. BARGIEL - Complete Piano Trios • 2 (1998) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

W. BARGIEL - Complete Piano Trios • 1 (1998) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

CÉCILE CHAMINADE : Piano Trios, Op. 11 & 34; Works for violin, cello & piano (Trio Parnassus) (2017) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless