BEETHOVEN: “Triple” Concerto; Folk Song Arrangements for Voice, Violin, Cello, and Piano; Londonderry Air for Piano Trio – Philharmonia Orchestra/ Matias Rouvali, cond. – Decca 485 4624 (58:20, complete credits below) (5/31/24) ****:
Recorded 9 June and 21 December 2023, this assemblage of Beethoven (piano trio) compositions brings together alumni of the BBC Young Musician Competition who have not collaborated prior on recordings. The main work, Beethoven’s 1803 Triple Concerto, represents the composer’s creative concession to Baroque practice, a kind of concertante concerto grosso for piano trio and orchestra, allotting the entry part consistently to the cello. The selection of folk songs by Beethoven reflects the ethnic roots of the four participating musicians – Scottish, Welsh, Irish, and English – concluding with the Kreislers’ arrangement of “Danny Boy” to round off the natural spontaneity of the program.
From the opening bass chords from conductor Rouvali’s energetic Philharmonia Orchestra for the initial Allegro movement, the lithe buoyancy of the occasion presents a directness, often quite exuberantly explosive, that blends with ensemble seamlessly. Those who already cherish the individual gifts of violinist Benedetti and pianist Grosvenor will find generous filigree and accompanying passagework to confirm their high opinions.
Cellist Kanneh-Mason has made his presence known in movement one, but the succeeding Largo movement allows him a greater expressive range to his playing, the vibrant sonority of his instrument’s finding vehicles in arco and vibrato-assisted passages that call for luxurious arioso, while Benedetti’s violin sails in brilliant coloratura. Beethoven himself makes points in the harmonic shifts that announce the transition to the jubilant polonaise that concludes the concerto. The piano part from Grosvenor accentuates the sly humor invested into what proves no less a bravura piece of ensemble. The Philharmonia woodwinds add their own spice to the dervish whirlwinds of the trio’s effects. The affectionate give-and-take of the players, along with no mean use of string trills, urge the playful momentum ever forward. From the first, the palpable appreciation of the instrumentalists for one another’s artistry has been evident, and the cumulative energy breezes us to Beethoven’s colossal last pages for an antique form he has revitalized with infectious mastery.
Between 1809-1820 Beethoven arranged some 180 folk songs as a corpus of work from which he might draw melodic and textural inspiration. Baritone Gerald Finley enjoys an Orcadian ancestry that finds a happy medium in the nine chosen songs, beginning with the nostalgic “Sunset,” Op. 108, No. 2. The Romantic conceit that aligns the natural beauty of the setting to the responsive soul of the narrator offers a common parlance of expression. The piano trio adds an intimate, warmly comforting aura to Finley’s “Faithfu’ Johnie,” Op. 108, No. 20. “Farewell, Thou Noisy Town” marks the first of the trio of Welsh songs – each ethnic group has three songs – and it bounces with rustic glee. “The Parting Kiss” presents the longest of the Welsh lyrics, and we might wish Finley’s diction were clearer in enunciating the song’s melancholy sentiment, given the brochure’s lack of any texts. The Welsh song, “Sweet Richard,” projects a direct simplicity that might elicit the epithet “Schubertian.” Dexterous. clear playing illuminates the vocals for the two Irish songs, “When far from Home” and “By the side of the Shannon.” With the Scottish song, “The Buccleuch,” here purely instrumental, the cycle ends, a fitting segue for the arrangement of “Danny Boy.” Its first six notes repeat the slow movement of Beethoven’s Triple Concerto, and so the intimate circle is complete.
—Gary Lemco
Beethoven Triple Concerto, Philharmonia Orchestra
Contents:
“Triple” Concerto in C Major for Piano, Violin, Cello and Orchestra, Op. 56;
Folk Song Arrangements for Voice, Violin, Cello, and Piano from Op. 108; WoO 153, 155, 156. 157 (arr. Fritz & Hugo Kreisler);
Londonderry Air for Piano Trio
Artists
Nicola Benedetti, violin/
Sheku Kanneh-Mason, cello/
Benjamin Grosvenor, piano/
Gerald Finley, bass-baritone/
Philharmonia Orchestra/ Matias Rouvali, cond
