COMPOSERS: Rachmaninov Shostakovich
LABELS: Warner
ALBUM TITLE: Rachmaninov/Shostakovich
WORKS: Trio élégiaque in D minor; Piano Trio No. 2in E minor
PERFORMER: Dimitri Makhtin, Alexander Knaizev, Boris Berezovsky
CATALOGUE NO: 2564 61937 2
Despite its undoubted longueurs,
Rachmaninov’s Trio élégiaque can
sound mightily impressive in the
right hands. In this no-holds-barred
interpretation, Boris Berezovsky
demonstrates a masterly control of
the enormously demanding piano
part, revelling in the opportunities
to let rip at the most intense climaxes
but without in any way forcing the
tone or endangering the balance
between all three instruments. The
string players match Berezovsky
delivering sumptuous phrasing of
Rachmaninov’s sombre melodies
in the first movement, but also
supplying some wonderfully magical
textures in the more reflective sections
of the extended variations. These
ingredients, coupled with a finely
engineered recording, place this
performance almost on a par with
the classic 1984 Chandos version
from the Borodin Trio, though I find
the Borodin’s pacing of the second
movement slightly more convincing.
The Shostakovich, on the other
hand, receives a somewhat uneven
rendition. While admiring the venom
and virtuosity with which the players
attack the ironic scherzo, the
disembodied opening of the work
is far too slow in tempo and static
in phrasing and seems more like an
Adagio than the composer’s prescribed
Andante. Likewise, at the return of
this material at the climax to the finale,
the performers’ decision to opt for a
surprisingly deliberate tempo and some
cautious phrasing threatens to derail
the pent-up emotion that has built
up throughout the whole movement.
All in all, the performance doesn’t
hold me in thrall to the same extent
as that of some of the frontrunners in
the catalogue, most notably Elisabeth
Leonskaja with members of the
Borodin Quartet on Teldec, and
more recently the Trio Wanderer on
Harmonia Mundi. Erik Levi
Rachmaninov Shostakovich
Despite its undoubted longueurs,
Rachmaninov’s Trio élégiaque can
sound mightily impressive in the
right hands. In this no-holds-barred
interpretation, Boris Berezovsky
demonstrates a masterly control of
the enormously demanding piano
part, revelling in the opportunities
to let rip at the most intense climaxes
but without in any way forcing the
tone or endangering the balance
between all three instruments. The
string players match Berezovsky
delivering sumptuous phrasing of
Our rating
4
Published: January 20, 2012 at 3:55 pm