Schubert's Piano Trio's are fairly neglected in my Blog, i really haven't played these for a while, but when i do, the feelings come flooding back, the Trout and Death and the Maiden easily take centre stage in his Chamber Music output, and rightly so, and so these works can take a bit of a back seat, but Schubert's Trio's are bright and fun, both composed in major keys, there's a certain rhythm and dance to these pieces, and of course with Schubert, some superb tunes.
Vladimir Ashkenazy is Russian, he's now 75 years old, and he recorded this work in 1996, the front booklet photos [by Vivianne Purdom], are three small black & white pictures, in the background are autumn red leaves, a nice little concept.
The second movement is so beautiful, it's like a Chopin Nocturne in a way, you can feel the night descending at times, especially in the main theme tune, after a short intro by the piano, this gorgeous tune is played with passion by Cellist Lynn Harrell [0:07-0:49], and then the scene is complete when the violin comes in [0:48+], and a short time later the piano gets in on the act by hammering out the theme itself, lots of passion, certainly from Zukerman, who uses lots of rubato, i like the treble chimes from Ashkenazy, the mood changes abruptly [5:17+],.
Here's Ashkenazy / Zukerman / Harrell playing the second movement on YouTube.
Here's Ashkenazy / Zukerman / Harrell playing the second movement on YouTube.
