Martinů: Piano Trio No. 1 "5 Pièces brèves" - Dvořák: Piano Trio No. 3

Album review

The Aoi Trio (ah-oh-ee) sets itself a challenge with the program of this recording of music by Dvořák and Martinu. Although both composers were Czech and were just a few degrees of separation apart, the two works differ fundamentally. Dvořák's Piano Trio No. 3 in F minor, Op. 65, is one of the most darkly passionate things he ever wrote, with the composer's melodic facility placed in service of some unseen tragic narrative. Martinu's Piano Trio No. 1 ("Cinq pièces breves"), composed in 1930, represents the height of neoclassicism, with Martinu in a particularly brisk, astringent mood. Yet both works are unmistakably Czech, with bits of Bohemian dance rhythms coursing through the music. It is the kind of complex of factors about which listeners tend to say that only Czech performers can really do it justice, but here comes the Aoi Trio from Japan, catching the balance perfectly. The Martinu crackles with dry energy. Sample the first movement of the Dvořák for a taste of a performance that is as arch-Romantic as one could wish. This is a release by a chamber group that is worthy of close attention as it rises, with only overly closely miked sound as a complaint.
© James Manheim /TiVo