Saint-Saëns: Piano Trios

 

I am not sure how universally popular the piano trios of Saint-Saëns are, but it is apparent to my ears the performers on this recording, the Trio Wanderer from France, elevate this music to its best possible reaches.

The piano trio is an interesting chamber-music genre I don't visit too often. Saint-Saëns being a well-known keyboard virtuoso of his time obviously expends a lot of energy on creating a virtuosic piano part for himself to play, yet I never feel this quality is ever at the expense of the violin and cello. I would say it is only the cello who gets the short end of the stick, since its range melts into the middle of piano at times, whereas the violin is able to soar above without a care. Otherwise, Saint-Saëns seems to like setting the violin and cello in a back-and-forth dialog more than as a pair to play together against the piano.

I find I am more taken with the inner movements of Saint-Saëns' First Piano Trio. It seems to me the French composer saves his most complex structures for the outer movements, making them heavier or more serious in intent, although sheer elegance comes out of the Trio Wanderer throughout. Take Piano Trio no. 1 in F Major; the musical drones in these central portions of the trio are sapped of vibrato to give a quasi-Basque nature of the past, more a characterization from these performers than an intent from the composer, I think.

So too in Piano Trio no. 2 in E minor, where the five movement structure allows more dances to fill the middle of the trio. The second movement almost sounds like Saint-Saëns' take on a jazz waltz, although that US genre was in its progenitor stages at that point, thus this is purely a personal musical feeling on my part. I do, however, greatly enjoy the minor key of the outer movements in this particular trio compared to its earlier, major-keyed brother composition. Certainly the mad dash to the end was most unexpected, but brilliant.

All in all, I was initially expecting a delightful recording of Saint-Saëns piano trios, but ended up receiving so much more in the end. I know the competing Joachim and Florestan Trios are well respected, but I don't know if I would have enjoyed them quite so much as I do here on Harmonia Mundi with the Trio Wanderer. I expect the others are charming yes; but compelling...?

This 2005 recording was reissued in 2012 with a different cover, found in the video at the bottom of this post.

 

 

Works
Piano Trio 1 in F Major, op. 18 (26.42)
Piano Trio 2 in E minor, op. 93 (30.49)

Performers
Trio Wanderer
   Jean-Marc Phillips-Varjabédian, violin
   Raphaël Pidoux, cello
   Vincent Coq, piano

Label: Harmonia Mundi
Year: 2005
Total Timing: 58.01

 

 

 

This recording is a moment where the performers make the best possible case for the composer's music, not an occasion for the composer to show off these performers.

I would expect this recording trumps most others, although I could never claim to even have heard a majority of them. Let's call it intuition (or pure malarkey) on the part of this listener.

 

 

 

Find more Saint-Saëns recordings HERE!