A Beethoven anniversary project ends on a high
The Strad Issue: November 2024
Description: A Beethoven anniversary project ends on a high
Musicians: Sitkovetsky Trio
Works: Beethoven: Piano Trios, vol.3: E flat major op.1 no.1, D major op.70 No.1 ‘Ghost’; Schöne Minka WoO158a 1XVI (arr. Isang Enders)
Catalogue number: BIS BIS-2699 (SACD)
With the present release, the Sitkovetsky Trio completes its survey of Beethoven’s piano trios, one begun in 2020 to mark the composer’s 250th birthday. As in the first two volumes (I welcomed the second in November 2023), early and mature works are potently combined.
The E flat major Trio with which Beethoven chose to launch the catalogue of his published works shows the composer observing the formal rules of Classicism while audibly champing at the bit. These are arguably the earliest piano trios to feature both string instruments as equitable members of the group, and BIS’s excellent recording makes sure that they are given their due.
With thoughtful pianism, Wu Qian is consistently considerate towards her partners, both when accompanying or gently leading the way. Her imaginative phrasing is a constant joy, unobtrusively underlining as it does the young Beethoven’s impish humour. Alexander Sitkovetsky and Isang Enders are intimately attuned to her and to each other, their sound and phrasing beautifully matched. In the Largo assai ed espressivo that gave the ‘Ghost’ Trio its nickname (Carl Czerny related it to the ghost’s apparition in Hamlet), they conjure an eerie non-vibrato sound world that develops into an overwhelming climax, while the piece’s outer movements positively bubble over with joie de vivre. Contrastingly, the ‘encore’ – a setting by Beethoven of a Ukrainian love song – quietly reminds us that the composer’s ideals of world-embracing fraternal love seem as distant as ever.
Carlos María Solare
No comments yet