Mendelssohn: Piano Trios. Vienna Piano Trio (Nimbus)
One of the features which makes this new disc so enjoyable is that the Vienna Piano Trio's pianist, Stefan Mendl, is such a light-footed performer. Literally. The rippling keyboard writing of which Mendelssohn was so fond (and which stands as a reminder to his nowadays rarely-mentioned ability as a pianist) is a tempting case for the comforting cover of the sustaining pedal. Mendl resists the temptation, and the lightness of his approach clears the way for a sharper focus on his nimble, string-playing colleagues, with whom he shares a firm-fibred approach that yet seems to yield up readily the music's natural sweetness. The D minor Trio is one of the most popular in the repertoire, its darker companion in C minor lagging considerably behind it in profile. One of the tests of a performance of the later piece is the integration of the chorale theme in the finale, a challenge which is here surmounted with seamless efficiency.
By Michael Dervan
Piano and Percussion in the 20th Century. Tammittam Percussion Ensemble/Guido Facchin (Dynamic)
This misleadingly-titled CD offers some interesting Italian music. There are two pieces by Bruno Maderna (1920-1973), a key figure, especially influential as teacher and conductor, in the avant-garde of post-war Italy. The early Concerto for two pianos and instruments is rhythmically articulate; the late (and here piano-less) Serenata per un satellite explores the freedoms of aleatoric composition. Franco Donatoni's (b.1927) Cloches III runs through a range of percussion to set against two pianos. Its energy and buoyancy are typical of the composer's recent work. The disc is filled out with the snappy Hommage a Rameau by Germaine Tailleferre (1892-1983) as well as two trifling piano duets by this long-lived member of Les Six.
By Michael Dervan
Krenek: Reisebuch aus den osterreichischen Alpen; Fiedellieder. Wolfgang Holzmair (baritone), Gerard Wyss (piano) (Philips)
Having established credentials of excellence in Schubert, the Austrian baritone Wolfgang Holzmair has branched further afield: in French repertoire, Beethoven's folk-song settings, and, now, two song-cycles by his compatriot, Ernst Krenek (1900-1991). If you know Krenek only by his early atonalism, the acclaimed "jazz opera" Jonny Spielt Auf, or the 12-tone music of his American years, the Memoirs Of A Journey Through The Austrian Alps (1929) will be a real surprise. The style here is post-Schubertian, the harmonic language constrained, indeed sometimes astonishingly triadic for a composer who had already adventured as widely as the young Krenek. Holzmair and his partner, Wyss, are as acutely responsive as ever in this fascinating sidelight on a composer whose posthumous reputation continues to grow.
By Michael Dervan
