CHAMBER CHOICE
Bounding Beethoven trios are a delight
Nicholas Kenyon says the Sitkovetkys’ sprightly playing makes this a winner
Beethoven
Piano Trios, Vol. 2 – Piano Trio No. 2 in G major; Piano Trio No. 7‘Archduke’
Sitkovetsky Trio
BIS BIS-2539 (CD/SACD) 80:20 mins
This is a delight: sprightly, well-articulated playing which bounds with vitality. This ‘Archduke’ (dedicated to Beethoven’s patron Archduke Rudolph in 1811) starts in an almost improvisational spirit, the players gently assembling themselves before coming together in bar 14. The energy of the performance is driven by the pianist Wu Qian, absolutely attentive to all of Beethoven’s quirky markings and sudden sforzandos; the touches of rhythmic subtlety also come from the piano, just momentary holdings-back to shape a phrase or clarify a structure.
There is the familiar issue that the strings, and especially the cello, sometimes find it difficult to penetrate the piano’s sonorities, but Qian’s playing is so transparent that the problem is minimised. The witty staccato has lift-off, while its sliding, gloomy chromatic Trio! (Unlike some performances and recordings, the Sitkovetskys take all repeats in this movement.) I could do with a little more singing tone from Isang Enders’s cello in the , even in the passages, but the final movement of this hugely original piece bounds away with unstoppable verve.
