Review: Beethoven: Violin Sonatas and Tchaikovsky: Piano Trio

Publisher: EMI Records (1999)

Artists: Daniel Barenboim, Jacquelin du Pre and Pinchas Zukerman

Even in the digital age, the classical audiophile has a hard life. The acknowledged, tried-and-true virtuosos have retired, or died, and their lasting legacy consists of intangible memories of concert-goers and a scratchy records which can never be perfectly remastered. Of the many who aspire to greatness today, it is difficult to judge from a low-quality YouTube clip, or a thirty-second sound bite, the true quality of their recordings. In the long run, many who have promoted themselves successfully, and seemed to hold much promise, lose their sparkle and charm. So one makes assumptions based on past recordings and reputation as a guide.

We recently purchased a recording of the Beethoven Violin Sonatas and Tchaikovsky Piano Trio, featuring the above three artists. The sound quality is reasonable, although sometimes not as crisp and clear as we might desire. If one listens closely, it sounds as though the violin is placed closer to the left, and the piano is opposite, on the right. The Violin Sonatas have been amply recorded in the past, but each has its own character and flavour. This recording has more of the feel of chamber music, with violin and piano supporting and assisting each other, rather than violin dominating over the piano accompaniment. There is good reason for this, given the long shared history of these musicians, and Barenboim’s piano is clean and articulate, and a pleasure to listen to. While decent, Zukerman’s violin is sometimes faint and less stellar, lacking the engaging energy exhibited in other interpretations (compare with the Perlman/Ashkenazy recordings, 1974). As a result, this is a merely pleasant and somewhat surprising recording, but by no means a definitive interpretation.

The Tchaikosky piano trio is also somewhat disappointing. The audio quality is again quite reasonable. Both the violin and cello suit each other superbly, but in this instance, there is an indistinct quality to the piano, and quite possibly wrong notes. The fault does not lie solely on the performers, however; the composition’s quality and purpose fades markedly in the middle portion of the second movement, to the point where, more than once, your humble reviewers have simply turned off the track and listened to something better developed.

Finally comes the calculation of value. This collection was offered at 256kbps from iTunes, at a price of $25 (or somewhere in that vicinity). While pleasant, we do not listen to these recordings on a daily basis, and it is perhaps best streamed occasionally rather than purchased for closer study and inclusion into a permanent collection.

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 13th, 2009 at 16:29:31 and is filed under Compact Discs, Piano. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.