Art Nouveau – French Chamber Music Around 1900
Trio Wanderer
rec. 2025, Grande Salle, Arsenal, Metz, France
Reviewed as lossless download
harmonia mundi HMM902394/95 [131]

A cynic might see the main title of this recording – Art Nouveau – as little more than a publicity gimmick, given that only the two of the eight works in the program – those by Mel Bonis – were composed within the period (1890-1910) when the art movement is generally considered to have been at its peak. Furthermore, the Germanic romanticism of Lalo’s trio seems to have little connection to the sinuous, sensuous and graceful art created during the period. So let’s go with the secondary title, which is less catchy, but far more accurate.

It is fairly rare for established chamber ensembles to perform works without the full complement of players, so it is refreshing to see Trio Wanderer program four works for only one or two of its members.

Lalo’s third trio, written thirty years after his second, is, by some margin, the most assured of his three. It is firmly rooted in the tradition of Schumann and Brahms, perhaps closer to the former, whose music Lalo greatly admired. This new recording of it pushes the total to almost double figures, but I have only one other in my collection, that by the Barbican Trio on ASV from the mid-1990s. While the older recording is perfectly fine, there is no doubt that Trio Wanderer gives a more characterful performance, much impassioned in the opening Allegro appassionato, angst-ridden in the Presto and intense in the slow movement. The final movement is a considerable contrast to the dramas of the first three in its tripping rhythms and general absence of drama, and I’m not especially convinced by it, even in the fine performance by Trio Wanderer.

Debussy’s music is very closely linked to the Art Nouveau movement, though the three works presented here were written outside the period usually associated with the style’s peak popularity. His trio is the work of an eighteen-year old, and generally regarded by aficionados of the composer as a slight and unrepresentative piece. His music does not find its way onto my playlist very often, but I do like the trio. It is undoubtedly simpler in structure and form than his mature music, but it is full of lovely melodies and interesting rhythms (especially the Scherzo). Trio Wanderer brings out all these elements and more, and I can say that it becomes my performance of choice, ahead of the Florestan Trio (Hyperion).

I have already said in these pages that I can’t summon up much enthusiasm for Debussy’s Cello Sonata. However, after listening to Vincent Coq and Raphaël Pidoux play the Prologue I thought I would have to change my mind, but once the Sérénade began, my doubts resurfaced. Nevertheless, if you do like the work, I suspect you will find this to be an outstanding performance.

The combination of violin and piano has never been a favourite, but I do like the shifting moods of the Debussy, and this performance by  Jean-Marc Phillips-Varjabédian and Coq is up there with the classic Decca one of Kyung-Wha Chung and Radu Lupu. I frequently grumble about harsh violin timbres – there is absolutely none of that with Phillips-Varjabédian.

The two works by Mel Bonis provide a beautifully lyric interlude between the Debussy works, and show a talent that remains underappreciated and under-recorded. It’s a shame that the Barcarolle was the only piece for solo piano included in the program; there was plenty of space for a couple more.

Given that Trio Wanderer formed in 1987 (and retains the same lineup), it is perhaps not surprising that it has recorded the great Ravel trio before; the first was on the Le Chant Du Monde label back in 1999. What is perhaps more surprising is that in the twenty-six years between recordings, their vision of the piece has remained remarkably constant. There is a degree of emotional restraint that would have gained Ravel’s approval, but one is still drawn into the range of feelings expressed so eloquently. Trio Wanderer’s first recording had been one of my favourites, until I heard the intense and emotionally draining performance by Trio Sitkovetsky’s (BIS – review). Nevertheless, Trio Wanderer remains an excellent choice for a less harrowing listen, and this new recording, with much better sound quality, supplants the earlier one. It is beautifully played – the Passacaille is stunning.

I said in a recent review of Ravel’s music that La Valse was one of my least favourite works of his; I’d forgotten the Sonata for Violin and Cello, which is certainly in the same category. I will have to leave it to you to determine the performance quality, but based on all the other works on this recording, I would be surprised if it was anything other than excellent.

The sound quality is stunningly good: so clear, with each instrument given equal standing, yet maintaining a natural balance. It seems that Denis Herlin, who wrote the informative booklet notes, didn’t get the memo about the album’s title, as there is not a single mention of the phrase “Art Nouveau” in the four and a half pages – it only goes to confirm my cynicism about it.

I was disappointed by a recent collection of Ravel’s chamber music by the Nash Ensemble (review); I have no such reservations, title aside, with this one.

David Barker

Contents
Édouard Lalo (1823-1892)
Trio No. 3 in A minor for piano, violin and cello Op.26 (1880)
Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
Trio in G major for piano, violin and cello L. 5 (1880)
Mel Bonis (1858-1937)
Soir – Matin for piano, violin and cello Op.76 (1907)
Barcarolle in E-flat major for piano Op.71 (1906)
Claude Debussy
Sonata in G minor for violin and piano L.140 (1917)
Sonata in D minor for cello and piano L.135 (1915)
Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)
Sonata in A minor for violin and cello M.73 (1922)
Trio in A minor for piano, violin and cello M.67 (1914)

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