Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Complete Piano Trios
Piano Trios Op 1, Nos 1-3
Piano Trios Op 70, Nos 1 & 2
Piano Trio in B-flat major, Op 97 ‘Archduke’
Variations in E-flat major, Op 44
Variations in G major on ‘Ich bin der Schneider Kakadu’, Op 121a
Weiss Kaplan Stumpf Trio
rec. 2019, American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York City, USA
Reviewed as a download from a press preview
Bridge Records 9505A/C [3 CDs: 229]
Whilst it scores highly in egalitarian terms, the name of this piano trio hardly rolls off the tongue. Their playing, however, is a lot more enticing than their title, which unfortunately sounds a little like a mid-sized firm of solicitors. I think you can get away with this sort of moniker if the performers in question are household names. Quite apart from anything else, they don’t make a humble reviewer’s job any easier which is why for the purposes of this review I am going to cheekily christen them the WKS Trio!
If currently in the world of recordings the orchestral scene is a lot sparser than it used to be, the world of chamber music is bursting with energy and excitement. It reminds me of Schubert turning to chamber music and piano music due to cuts to Vienna’s private orchestras following an economic downturn. This new recording of the Beethoven piano trios adds even greater vitality to the dynamism of chamber music playing today.
Starting where the WKS Trio start, since they don’t present the works in chronological order, with the Ghost trio what is immediately striking is their ability to bring intense levels of creative concentration to bear over long time spans. Listen to the way this enables them to build climaxes in the famous slow movement with consummate patience.
Generally speaking, this is more chamber music for the concert hall than the salon: their playing is big and bold, full of vivid dynamic contrasts. Sticking with the Ghost trio, the presto finale is a close cousin of that of the Triple Concerto. The WKS aren’t bashful about showing off their virtuosity.
I need to be careful to avoid creating the impression that the WKS Trio go too far. The graceful open movement of the Ghost’s Op70 companion shows them as models of elegance and restraint. Another way of putting what I’m trying to get at it is that theirs is public rather private music making. This reflects the big musical personalities involved. For once in this music, no one performer stands out above the others. Yael Weiss’ renditions of the all-important piano parts would dominate proceedings in most other recordings were it not for the sheer personality of the string players. Staying with the piano part for a moment longer, Weiss captures that combination of glitter, naughtiness and contrariness that marks out Beethoven’s piano writing even from his Op 1. She is at her quicksilver best in the astonishing masterpiece that is the C minor trio Op 1 No 3, a work of fantastical flights of light and shade, belying what we traditionally think of Beethoven’s writing in that key.
The two strings are no slouches either. In the slow movement of Op 70 No 2 the duetting between Kaplan and Stumpf is a seraphic delight, not least because of the way the two voices complement one another in Beethoven’s call and response writing. This movement, full of quirky, strange Beethovenian twists and turns, suits the vivid recreative spirit of the WKS Trio perfectly.
All of this is enhanced by recording of the highest quality. It almost ideally balances crystalline transparency with warmth. The strings benefit greatly from this very natural sounding acoustic. Close without being too dry but without the boomy echo of an empty concert hall.
The so-called Archduke Trio, Beethoven’s last and greatest effort in the genre, brings a different kind of challenge and the way Weiss, Kaplan and Stumpf rise to it is certainly striking. In the endless expanses of the opening movement, they seem intent on delivering an account so intimate as to be virtually delivered in whispers. Since this manner is so different from the way they play the rest of the trios, this is presumably how they see the character of the work. In their magical handling of the development section of this first movement, it is hard to argue. It is striking, not least because so many rivals take the nickname at face value and set off as they were undertaking the chamber music equivalent of the Emperor Concerto (another nickname that didn’t originate with the composer). Far from grand, the resultant mood in this performance is dreamy and rhapsodic. I wasn’t initially convinced by this way of proceeding, but as I got to know this performance better, I began to wonder if it was they who were right and everyone else wrong. If nothing else, it makes the work lean more toward the works of the so called Late Period to come and away from the heroics of the Middle Period. Or perhaps it just demonstrates how deceptive those seemingly clear divisions of Beethoven’s work can be.
The mellow mood engendered by this way of playing the opening movement casts a glow over the remaining movements – the scherzo is laid back rather than dynamic, the finale more like the Pastoral than the Eroica symphonies. The biggest beneficiary is the set of variations that form the slow movement. The atmosphere is wistful and one of reverie, where others emphasise high seriousness. As is often the case with late-ish Beethoven, trying less hard delivers greater profundity. The spaciousness of the handling of this music by the WKS Trio virtually seems to touch on eternity.
One of the best sorts of recording are those that are the product of a lengthy maturation by seasoned musicians who have taken the time to get fully inside the music. This is such a recording. Whilst there is a huge amount to be said for the freshness and enthusiasm of new discovery, when it comes to works as often played as the Beethoven trios, then there is little substitute for experience. What emerges, almost paradoxically – and this is the central paradox of classical music making – is greater spontaneity and passion born of an encounter with deeper layers of music that resists any kind of single way of performing it. That sort of energy and engagement beams from virtually every note Weiss, Kaplan and Stumpf play and the effect is to renew these pieces and remind listeners why they are held in such high esteem.
David McDade
Previous review: Stephen Greenbank (March 2024)
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