DVOŘÁK A. PIANO TRIO No.3 Op.65, PIANO TRIO DUMKY No.4 Op.90 / Academia trio

Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904) - Piano Trio in F Minor op.65 42:24

1. Allegro ma non troppo 13:53

2. Allegretto grazioso 6:43

3. Poco adagio 10:22

4. Finale. Allegro con brio 11:13

Antonín Dvořák - Piano Trio in E Minor op. 90 "Dumky" 34:08

5. Lento maestoso 4:31

6. Poco adagio 8:04

7. Andante 6:35

8. Andante moderato 5:02

9. Allegro 4:27

10. Lento maestoso 5:11

Total time 76:40

Trio Academia: Petr Jiříkovský piano, Pavel Šafařík violin, Jaroslav Matějka cello

Dating from 1883, the Piano Trio in F Minor is one of the formally most ingenious chamber works of Dvořák. The spontaneously warm Dvořák of the previous stage shows here a hitherto unknown aspect of his artistic nature: the almost "symphonic grandiosity" detaches this kind of music from the intimate character of chamber music. The critics of the period differred considerably in their views of the composition - Dvořák was compared with Smetana, Beethoven and Brahms. After its premiere in Vienna in 1884 one of the greatest authorities, the dreaded Eduard Hanslick, called the composition "a work that matured in the sunshine of noblest manhood". Dvořák no longer created impulsively, his compositions had a more perfected form, without the form suppressing the riches of invention in any way. Besides the sextet op. 48, the trio ranks Dvořák "among the foremost masters of modern music".

In the Trio Dumky op. 90 (dating from 1890 - 1891) Dvořák turned - as he had done many a time - to folk inspirations. This time it was the Ukrainian dumka, whose alternating moods - the contrast of dreaminess and almost tragic sadness on the one hand and the temperamental and tempestuous expression on the other - together with Dvořák's unending melodic inventiveness resulted in a rewarding and eternal work of chamber music.

The piano trio entitled Dumky is the first case of six independent compositions of this kind, joined in a cycle.

The Dumky trio however belongs to the most favourite compositions. The contrasts of moods, which this trio contains, bring the audience an immediate emotional experience.

(Studio Matouš)