Suk - Dvořák

Album review

The youthful Trio Karénine, named for Tolstoy's Anna Karenina, seems to have a real affinity for Dvořák's music; the group landed on the map with a recording of the composer's Piano Trio No. 4 in E minor, Op. 90 ("Dumky"), and returns with arguably the black belt piece in Dvořák's chamber music, the Piano Trio No. 3 in F minor, Op. 65. This extraordinarily turbulent work, composed in 1883 after the death of the composer's mother, does not eliminate the Slavic flavors in his music, but it is perhaps his most Brahmsian music of all, with vast formal plans into which each detail falls in its preordained place. On recordings, it is often paired with the "Dumky" trio, but Trio Karénine does well to open with the Piano Trio in C minor, Op. 2, of Josef Suk, a compact but highly tuneful work written under Dvořák's supervision. It is quite a powerful work in itself, but here, it serves the function of a curtain raiser for the Dvořák, which receives an absolutely riveting performance. Trio Karénine penetrates to the essence of the work, which is a true chamber counterpart to the Symphony No. 7 in D minor, Op. 70, and is one of the most purely ambitious things Dvořák ever conceived. Sample the opening movement and luxuriate in the players' long-range thinking even as there are local eruptions of passion. Mirare provides an ideal sonic environment at the Ferme de Villefavard in what is certain to be ranked as one of the top chamber music recordings of 2023.
© James Manheim /TiVo