Search - Franz [Vienna] Schubert, Kungsbacka Piano Trio :: Schubert: Piano Trio 2 in E Flat Major

A Fine Entry

J Scott Morrison | Middlebury VT, USA | 09/02/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The Kungsbacka Piano Trio is fairly new, with fairly young players. They formed in 1997 and named themselves after the Swedish city in which they played their first concert. The string players are Swedish, the pianist British. They are now based in London, if I'm not mistaken, and are associated with the Guildhall School. This is their first major recording.



The E Flat Piano Trio, Op.100, of Schubert is, of course, one of the nucleus of great piano trios that make up any trio's repertoire. With its companion piece, the Trio in B Flat, Op. 99, it is part of the treasure store of Schubertian chamber masterpieces. It is sometimes said to be the darker of the two trios, but it certainly has it lighthearted passages and an abundance of Schubertian melody and harmonic surprises. The Kungsbacka play it with all its repeats which for some can be a bit much, especially in the long final movement which here is played in its original version with an extended development section.



The ten-minute-long Sonatensatz in B Flat Minor, D.28, is a fairly negligible early work that the Kungsbacka play well. Its interest, however, is rather minimal.



The Kungsbacka are elegant players and I have absolutely no argument with their way with the work. One can hear easy give and take and more than a few moments of heady abandon. I do, however, have some reservations about the recording engineer's balances. The piano part, however brilliantly played by Simon Crawford Phillips, is, in my view, too forward, often overshadowing the strings. Indeed, at times Malin Broman's violin seems weak and distant, and it is clear that this is not any deficiency on her part but that of the recording.



This recording will not erase from memory those of the Beaux Arts Trio or the more recently recorded Florestan Trio -- my nomination as the finest piano trio currently playing -- but it is an excellent performance here and the budget price makes it all the more attractive. I would love to hear them in the Op. 99 Trio.



Scott Morrison"

Wonderful Performance

music lover | New York, NY United States | 09/01/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

""The Kungsbacka Trio adds to its growing reputation with a performance that combines polish, freshness and inventive characterisation. The players catch what Schumann dubbed the "repressed fury'' of the first movement, and avoid the trap of sentimentalising the contrasting lyrical theme. The scherzo has an ideal lilt and lightness of touch; and the Kungsbackas' grace and verve vindicate their choice of Schubert's dangerously long original version of the finale." The Daily Telegraph, London"