This is an exceptional release of some exceptional music—indeed possibly the two greatest piano trios ever written. No. 1, which might have actually been composed later, was never heard performed during the composer’s lifetime. It’s broad, magnificent opening, which seems to engulf the whole world in its cause, is one of the most magnificent moments in all of music, and the Trio Wanderer makes it suitably sublime in its insistent and unrelenting attention-grabbing power. The rest of this perfectly-balanced work is played expertly with an enthusiastic revelry that almost belies the trouble Schubert was going through at the time.
Trio No. 2, whose opening Schumann described as a “furious meteor”, is a slight letdown in this recording. My perception is that the Wanderer is somewhat reticent to give the music its full due, concentrating more on balance and a refined classical structure than the in-your-face, insistent proclamation that the music seems to suggest it needs. But this is the only flaw I can detect; the second movement, one of the most tragic and pathos-laden pieces in the literature, this time gets full consideration with a finely-honed and extremely measured pace that only serves to reinforce the inherent catastrophic qualities of the piece.
I still think the Istomin-Stern-RoseTrio on Sony holds the keys to the successful presentation of these works; they play Schubert with a romantic intensity at a time when romantic intensity was not considered particularly Schubertian. But what they lacked was the superb sound we get here, with a beautiful balance among all the instruments. Isaac Stern’s insistence that he hog the mike is gone here, and we have none of the middle-channel “black hole” so common in many of Columbia’s one-microphone-to-an-instrument recordings back then. The sound really is stunning here, and I cannot name a better recorded piano trio of any kind that I have heard so realistically and musically presented. A fine listen, this, and if you need an updated recording, this will serve well. But you must have both these works in your collection. The extra torsos also provided fill out the discs nicely, also well-played and presented.
— Steven Ritter
