Brahms J. Complete Piano Trios / Smetana Trio (2CD)

JOHANNES BRAHMS (1833-1897)

CD 1

Trio for Piano, Violin and Cello No. 3 in C minor, Op. 101 (1886) 19:53

1. I. Allegro energico 6:54

2. II. Presto non assai 3:22

3. III. Andante grazioso 4:14

4. IV. Allegro molto 5:21

Trio for Piano, Violin and Cello No. 2 in C major, Op. 87 (1880-82) 27:56

5. I. Allegro 9:38

6. II. Andante con moto 7:42

7. III. Scherzo. Presto 4:32

8. IV. Finale. Allegro giocoso 6:02

Trio for Clarinet, Cello and Piano in A minor, Op. 114 (1891) 23:54

9. I. Allegro 7:28

10. II. Adagio 7:27

11. III. Andantino grazioso - Trio 4:36

12. IV. Allegro 4:20

CD 2

Trio for Piano, Violin and Cello No. 1 in B major, Op. 8 (1853-54, rev.1889) 36:23

1. I. Allegro con brio 15:24

2. II. Scherzo. Allegro molto 6:22

3. III. Adagio 8:02

4. IV. Allegro 6:31

Trio for Horn, Violin and Piano in E flat major, Op. 40 (1865) 28:20

5. I. Andante - Poco piu animato 8:05

6. II. Scherzo. Allegro 7:15

7. III. Adagio mesto 6:40

8. IV. Finale. Allegro con brio 6:16

Smetana Trio (Jana Vonášková-Nováková - violin, Jan Páleníček - cello, Jitka Čechová - piano) and guests: Přemysl Vojta - French horn, Ludmila Peterková - clarinet Recorded at the Martínek Studio, Prague, June 2011 (Trios Nos 2+3, Clarinet Trio) and June 2012 (Trio No. 1, Horn Trio).

Following on from the recording of the complete trios of Antonín Dvořák (Supraphon), the renowned and critically acclaimed Smetana Trio have taken the logical step of recording a Johannes Brahms album of the same ilk. As a pianist, Brahms earned admiration back in his childhood and later on many occasions even premiered his own pieces. Almost four decades span the first trio Brahms wrote, at the age of twenty, and the last. Besides piano trios in the traditional configuration, he composed a trio for horn and a trio for clarinet. The sound of the horn, an instrument Brahms himself played, was reputedly loved by the composer's mother and he wrote the horn trio as a response to her death. Brahms created the clarinet trio for the celebrated clarinettist Richard Mühlfeld, whom the composer esteemed immensely. The Smetana Trio's guests on the new recording are the outstanding clarinettist Ludmila Peterková and the superlative horn player Přemysl Vojta, winner of the ARD Munich competition (2010) and holder of a Beethoven Ring.

Brahms with the tenderness and engrossing romantic expressiveness of the Smetana Trio.

(Supraphon 2012)