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Turnovsky Trio - Romantic Russian Piano Trios (MMT2031) |
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The Turnovsky Trio
Piano Trio in D minor, Op.32 Anton Stephanovich Arensky
1 I - Allegro moderato (12:39)
2 II - Scherzo: Allegro molto (5:20)
3 III - Elegia: Adagio (7:28)
4 IV - Finale (6:33)
5 Trio Élégaique in G minor, Op. posth. Sergei Rachmaninov (14:04)
Piano Trio in D minor, 'Pathétique'
Mikhail Glinka
6 I - Allegro moderato (5:29)
7 II - Scherzo: vivacissimo (3:19)
8 III - Largo (5:56)
9 IV - Allegro con spirito (2:11)
Total Duration 62:59
MMT2031 Digital Stereo Recording
© 2000 HRL Morrison Music Trust
P 2000 HRL Morrison Music Trust
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Recorded in the Bruce Mason Centre, Auckland, New Zealand, 9-11 February 2000
Producer Wayne Laird, Auckland, New Zealand
Digital Editing and Mastering Wayne Laird
Executive Producers Russell Armitage & Ross Hendy
Music notes Thomas Liggett
Design Cato Partners, Wellington, New Zealand
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Piano Trio in D minor, Op.32
Anton Stepanovich Arensky
Allegro moderato
Scherzo: Allegro molto
Elegia: Adagio
Finale
The first of the two piano trios by Arensky is often compared with that of Tchaikovsky, and they are are frequently coupled in recordings and concerts. Whilst he studied with Rimsky-Korsakov, Arensky’s sympathies lay more with the music of the other composer – although he negotiated the technical pitfalls of the piano trio medium with greater success than Tchaikovsky, in effecting a satisfactory balance between the strings and piano. Arensky was one of the most eclectic Russian composers of his generation, and the influence of Mendelssohn (particularly of the D minor piano trio) is also readily discernible in this, the most successful of his extended works. The trio was composed in 1894 and dedicated to the memory of the virtuoso cellist Karl Davïdov, founder of the Russian school of cello playing and sometime director of the St. Petersburg Conservatory at which Arensky studied. This commemorative aspect is apparent in the title of third movement.
The predominant tone of the first movement is relaxed and urbane, the composer presenting his themes and setting up their interactions with an easy fluency. The succeeding Scherzo is fleet-footed, with some mercurial passage work for the pianist and a deft touch with pizzicato and harmonics called for from the strings, and the trio is an example of what became known, for the frequent appearance of this style in his works, as the ‘Arensky Waltz’. A melancholy cello melody opens the Elegia, to the accompaniment of a grave dotted-rhythm figure from the piano. The mood becomes more affecting at the entry of the violin and the two string parts intertwine in increasing intensity until the respite of middle section where the mood relaxes and the piano comes to the fore. The work concludes with a dramatic rondo, with episodes recalling the central theme of the Elegia and the first theme of the first movement.
Trio Élégaique in G minor
Sergei Rachmaninov
Accounts of Rachmaninov by those who met him speak of a rather grim character (one myth contributing to this impression is that he was never photographed smiling) and although this is of course an exaggeration of one single aspect of his character, this intense and dark-hued chamber work suggests the melancholy aspect of his musical personality was manifest from an early age. The Trio Élégaique was written in the winter of 1882, at the beginning of Rachmaninov’s last year as a student under Arensky at the Moscow Conservatory. It was composed specifically for himself and two friends to perform in the first formal concert he put on at his own initiative with the intention of showcasing his talents as both a composer and performer. He wrote gloomily about the trials of organising sponsorship and advertising and the eventual loss the concert sustained, which he had to underwrite himself; his evident discouragement at the success of the concert was perhaps a reason for this particular work having faded into obscurity. The following year Rachmaninov wrote another, more extended Trio Élégaique – this for a more heartfelt reason – in commemoration of the death of his teacher and mentor Tchaikovsky. The success of the later work may also have eclipsed the G minor trio.
Although a severe-sounding piece, it demonstrates the hallmarks of a composer already quite secure in technique, and is by no means unworthy of reviving. The single sonata form movement is most strongly characterised by a motto theme (two ascending steps plus ascending third) from which most of its material is derived. The introduction of the second subject is relatively brief, and it makes only fleeting appearances in the development section – it is the motto theme which Rachmaninov subjects to most of the transformations implicit in the nature of sonata form.
Piano Trio in D minor, 'Pathétique'
Mikhail Glinka
Allegro moderato
Scherzo: vivacissimo
Largo
Allegro con spirito
Hailed as the “Father of Russian Music” by his younger compatriot Balakariev, Glinka pioneered a style of music derived from the harmonic, melodic and rhythmic idiosyncrasies of the folk musics of Russia. In doing so, he pushed beyond the boundaries of musical convention that the most advanced European composers of his day were just beginning to expand, and created a personal style marked by daring harmonies, dynamic and flexible rhythm, and bright, pure orchestral colours.
In his late twenties, Glinka spent three years in Italy, partly to keep up his musical studies, but also to obtain the health benefits of the latest fashions in medical treatment. If the latter were more than a little doubtful in their efficacy (not to say counterproductive), his musical experiences were an important factor in a decisive change in his outlook as a composer. Glinka wrote in his memoirs “All the pieces written by me to please the inhabitants of Milan, and very nicely published by Giovanni Ricordi, only served to convince me that I was not following my own path, and that I could not sincerely be an Italian. A longing for my own country led me gradually to the idea of writing in a Russian manner”.
The Trio 'Pathétique' dates from this pre-Russian-manner period in Italy. In its lyricism, its absorption of elements of the Italian operatic cantilena, it bears evidence of how congenial to his Romantic nature the young Glinka must have found the Italian operatic style. Originally scored for clarinet, bassoon and piano, a later adaptation for piano trio has probably ensured the work’s survival. Glinka wrote on the score “I have known love only by the pain it brings”, a fairly ironic inscription considering his unfailing popularity with members of the fairer sex, but the probable reason for the published score of this essentially genial and lyrical work bearing the misleading title 'Pathétique'.
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