Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943)
Trio élégiaque No.1 in G minor (1892)
Trio élégiaque No.2 in D minor, Op.9 ‘To the Memory of a Great Artist’ (1893, rev. 1917)
Brahms Trio
rec. 2021, Large Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, Moscow, Russia
Naxos 8.574687 [63]

Lists of Rachmaninoff’s works used to include one piano trio, Trio élégiaque Op.9 in memory of Tchaikovsky. In 1930, however, the Soviet authorities found another trio, which Rachmaninoff composed a year earlier but never mentioned. There is a dearth of information about it, including if it was written in someone’s memory. It is in one movement, more or less in sonata form, with the tempo marking of Lento lugubre. The main theme is expertly developed, and the key of G minor actually makes the work a little less lugubrious than one would expect. It is quite an accomplished work for a nineteen-year-old, until we remember that by then Rachmaninoff had already written the opera Aleko and was working on the Piano Concerto No.1.

The second trio puts us on much firmer biographical ground. Rachmaninoff started it the day he heard about the death of his hero Tchaikovsky. Originally, he scored it for a piano trio and harmonium, but the latter instrument got lost somewhere among the several versions of the piece. The informed reader will recall that Tchaikovsky wrote his own “trio élégiaque”, namely Piano Trio Op.50 in memory of the pianist, conductor and composer Nikolai Rubinstein, who died in 1881.

Rachmaninoff’s entire piece is based on a descending theme, first heard in the cello, and an accompanying passage for the piano. In the Moderato first movement,the effect is a little like the tolling of bells – this brings to mind Rachmaninoff’s choral symphony The Bells Op.35. There is a more dance-like second section. The whole shows that he had increased the developmental skill shown in the first trio. The heart of the movement is a lament for the cello based on the opening material, before a solemn summing up.

Tchaikovsky’s second movement is in the form of a theme and variations. Rachmaninoff chose the same in his Op. 9. The theme, based on music from his symphonic poem The Rock, precedes eight variations which plumb the depths of his grief. The variations feature quite imaginative use of the three instruments, almost like a tribute to the slow movement of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No.2. The final variation is almost unearthly.

Tchaikovsky limited his trio to two large movements, so one might have expected Rachmaninoff to follow suit. Instead, he added a much shorter movement marked Allegro risoluto. It is even more impassioned than the first two movements. While continuing the elegiac tone at the start, it gradually becomes more heroic, and ends with a sad diminuendo coda.

Naxos’s History of the Russian Piano Trio will eventually comprise a dozen or more volumes, ranging from Alybiev to Shostakovich (see a review of Vol.4). The present disc is subtitled The Silver Age and Art Nouveau Era. The members of the Brahms Trio, professors at the Tchaikovsky Moscow Conservatory, have played together since 1990. There is perfect balance. The combined sound is weighty but with a contrasting light touch, perfect for the Trio Op.9. I was most impressed with cellist Kirill Rodin, who has a lot to do in these works, but I must also mention Natalia Rubinstein’s playing in the first movement of the Op.9 and Nikolai Sachenko’s in the second.

Readers who are collecting the History of the Russian Piano Trio series will naturally want this disc. With the low price, fine playing and fine recording, it will serve as a good choice for those who look just for the two Rachmaninoff works.

William Kreindler

Buying this recording via the link below generates revenue for MWI, which helps the site remain free.