SCHUBERT: Piano Trio No. 1 in B flat, Op. 99; Piano Trio No. 2 in E flat, Op. 100 – Storioni Trio, Amsterdam – PentaTone

by | Apr 23, 2007 | SACD & Other Hi-Res Reviews | 0 comments

SCHUBERT: Piano Trio No. 1 in B flat, Op. 99; Piano Trio No. 2 in E flat, Op. 100 – Storioni Trio, Amsterdam – PentaTone Multichannel SACD PTC 5186 050, 79:32 ****:

These are probably two of the finest chamber works from the pen of Schubert, and they are just part of the many song and chamber pieces he turned out towards the end of his life – in spite of knowing he was ill and probably dying. Both are large works of four movements each, and they are full of wonderful tunes that will sound very familiar, coming from a composer who was a master of the lied. By this time there is no feeling of strong influences from Mozart, Haydn or Beethoven as in some of Schubert’s earlier works. The grand gesture is maintained successfully over the full length of these works, which run close to 40 minutes each.

The Storioni Trio is a mainstay of chamber music performance in Amsterdam, as well as traveling the globe to important music centers. They play with great intensity and feeling in the slow movements and are lighter and even often playful in the fast movements. Speaking of slow movements, the Op. 100 Trio will quickly ring a bell with fans of the Kubrick film Barry Lyndon; its Andante movement was used at length during the ornate drawing room scenes in the film, where it fit perfectly. The 5.0 SACD surround provides a rather close and spatially-separated sonic image of the trio, positioned much as they are in the photo in the liner notes.

 – John Sunier

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