Trio Wanderer - Mendelssohn: Piano Trios (2013)

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Trio Wanderer - Mendelssohn: Piano Trios (2013)

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In the early years of the twenty first century, many classical labels released couplings of both Mendelssohn's piano trios, and while nearly all of them were superb, perhaps the best of all was this 2007 recording by France's Trio Wanderer. The same group that had already turned in excellent recordings of Brahms, Shostakovich, and Saint-Saëns here turned in a disc that has all the hallmarks of its performance style – strength, stamina, and above all energy – and applied to pieces that call out for those qualities but all too rarely get them. Not here: as it had with Brahms, the Trio Wanderer pours on the power in the opening Molto allegro agitato and Allegro energico e con fuoco, puts the pedal to the metal in the central Scherzo's Leggiero e vivace and Molto allegro quasi presto, and charges hell bent for glory in the closing Allegro assai appassionato and Allegro appassionato. And yet the Trio Wanderer is not just about power and speed: in the Andante con moto tranquillo and Andante espressivo, the players, especially violinist Jean-Marc Phillips-Varjadédian and cellist Raphaël Pidoux, sing with ardent lyrical grace. Ultimately, however, it is the group's energy that makes these performances so musically convincing and emotionally compelling. Anyone who loves nineteenth century music in general and Mendelssohn's music in particular should hear this disc. Recorded in L'heure bleue Salle de Musique in La Chaux-de-Fronds, Harmonia Mundi's sound is rich, deep, warm, and very immediate.

Composer: Felix Mendelssohn
Orchestra/Ensemble: Wanderer Trio

Reviews: As a composer, Mendelssohn has a reputation for being cute and zippy, graceful and tasteful in an inhibited, Victorian sort of way, and so he often was. But he could express passion, and to find it you have to look to his chamber music, particularly these two trios, both based in minor keys and both full of emotional turmoil (in a good way). The movement titles really do say it all. Trio No. 1 opens Molto allegro agitato, and these players keep the music at a barely restrained simmer until it explodes in the dramatic coda. The finale, marked Allegro assai appassionato, also features Mendelssohn in “take no prisoners” mode, and you won’t hear a more apt realization of his intentions than here.

If anything, the Trio No. 2 is even more intense, quite similar in tone to the late F minor string quartet. Here we find Allegro energico e con fuoco, a gorgeous (and gorgeously played) Andante espressivo, and another “appassionato” conclusion. It’s rather amazing that these pieces aren’t played and recorded more often. I vividly remember a live performance of the Trio No. 1 after which I overheard people saying, in effect, “where has this music been?” So give yourself a treat and sample some Mendelssohn you might not know ever existed.

Harmonia Mundi’s sumptuous engineering balances Vincent Coq’s brilliant keyboard playing perfectly against his two partners. This isn’t as easy as it sounds; Mendelssohn expects the pianist to execute tons of notes at high speed in the outer movements of both works, without ever overpowering the strings. That Trio Wanderer manages this feat so effortlessly is just one of the delightful surprises that await you if you add this release to your collection.