SCHUMANN: The Three Piano Trios – Ilya Gringolts, violin / Peter Laul, p./ Dmitry Kouzov, cello – Onyx (2 CDs)

SCHUMANN: The Three Piano Trios = Piano Trio No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 63; Piano Trio No. 2 in F Major, Op. 80; Piano Trio No. 3 in G Minor, Op. 110 – Ilya Gringolts, violin / Peter Laul, piano/ Dmitry Kouzov, cello – Onyx 4072 (2 discs), TT: 83:29 [Distr. by Harmonia mundi] *****:

Violinist Ilya Gringolts and his companions Peter Laul and Dmitry Kouszov bring Russian heart and soul to Schumann’s relatively neglected piano trios. I say “relatively neglected” because while they have fared well on disc—and new recordings are added regularly—they don’t appear often in concert and get less respect than the Mendelssohn and Beethoven trios, or even the Brahms trios, though I think Schumann’s First Trio is finer than any that Brahms penned. The First is usually cited as Schumann’s strongest. It came on the heels of the composer’s nervous breakdown, a period that also produced the Second Symphony. Indeed, like the symphony, the trio can be regarded as therapeutic; Schumann seemed to exorcise the demons that haunted him in these two works.
Like the symphony, the trio starts with an emotionally restless first movement, this one marked Mit Engergie und Leidenschaft (“With energy and passion”). The most celebrated moment, however, comes in a quiet passage toward the end of the movement, when the gentle second theme is stated by the strings playing am Steg (“near the bridge”) over repeated soft piano chords high up on the keyboard—eerie and unforgettable.
The second movement is a sinuous athletic scherzo, and it’s followed by a slow movement that especially reflects the “gloomy moods” Schumann was still suffering with at the time. In the finale, he manages to put dark thoughts behind him; it is hardly an engine of unbridled joy, but it is positive and forward looking, providing a satisfyingly upbeat conclusion to a work that has explored some of the darker corners of the composer’s emotional life.
Despite the much higher opus number, the Second Trio was written a few months later and is of a very different character—lighter, much more buoyant and optimistic. It’s also more harmonically daring than its predecessor the first movement, though nominally in F major, playing the keys of G and D off against one another. Surprisingly, Schumann introduces an entirely new theme at the start of the development section, a melody based on his song “Intermezzo” or Dein Bildnis wunderselig from Liederkreis, Op. 39. Was this a sort of coded message to his wife, Clara? – a backward glance at the happy first year of their marriage? At any rate, the gaiety of the first movement carries over to the other movements, including a third movement that is more a gentle intermezzo than a scherzo.
Schumann’s Third Trio of 1851 is often thought to represent a decline in the composer’s creative powers corresponding to his final breakdown, but that was three years away in 1851, and other masterworks would follow from Schumann’s pen. Certainly, the first movement, a powerful sonata-allegro, shows no falling off in quality, and I think Clara was right in pointing to the work’s passion and originality. She especially praised the scherzo, which is very fine, but the most original movement is the last, in which Schumann alternates two contrasting melodies in the manner of one of his pianistic character pieces. The first melody especially is unusual in shape and hints at a new direction in Schumann’s musical thinking. Whether it works or not, the movement is strikingly different and has moments of typically Schumannesque lyrical beauty.
I’m really very happy with the performances of all three of these contrasting works. The First and Third Trios are invested with the last ounce of passion, and yet the smiling Second has just the right measure of lightness and grace. The inclusion of Ilya Gringolts in this project might seem like a bit of luxury casting on the part of Onyx—shouldn’t he be playing the Schumann Violin Concerto and Fantasy instead?—but it manages to focus attention on the string parts, a good thing given the fact that Schumann is often accused of emphasizing the piano in his chamber music. And the string parts are as beautifully played here as is Schumann’s often demanding piano part.
Add to that beautifully natural sound captured in a church in St. Petersburg, and you have a winning set. And while I respect the choice of not including Schumann’s “other” piano trio—the Fantasiestücke, Op. 88—I just hope that Onyx doesn’t charge full price for these discs; a little over eighty minutes of music would not be good value in that case. But as long as the price remains competitive, certainly these performances can be ranked with the best.
— Lee Passarella