Brahms: Piano Trios Vol. 1, Op. 36 & 87

Album review

This 2023 release, apparently the first in a cycle of the Brahms trios, is the debut recording by the Greenwich Trio under its current membership; an earlier iteration recorded trios by Mendelssohn in 2012. It includes a work that is not a Brahms trio itself, the transcription of the String Sextet No. 2 in G major, Op. 36, made in 1883 by Theodor Kirchner. As annotator Alan George points out, such efforts were common enough at the time, and no doubt plenty of 19th century listeners heard the work in this form. It is a skillful job that catches a surprising amount of the original material, but some of the impact of the original work, which had an influence on Schoenberg's Verklärte Nacht, is lost. The work is interesting but perhaps an odd choice for a debut recording. The opening work, the Piano Trio No. 2 in C major, Op. 87, is very strong, however. This is a big work in four movements, contemporary with some of Brahms' large-scale masterpieces, and the brilliant sound of the Greenwich players, especially violinist Lana Trotovšek, serves it well in a sweeping, exciting performance of a work that hasn't always gotten its due. The Linn label's sound from Menuhin Hall is ideal, and one awaits with interest future release from the Greenwich Trio, of Brahms and otherwise.
© James Manheim /TiVo