Shostakovich: Piano Trios Op. 8 & 67

Album review

Brilliant performances of brilliant works brilliantly programmed, this recording by the Trio Wanderer is good chamber music. The works are brilliant virtuoso studies for piano trio, but they are of course more than that. Shostakovich's early Trio in C minor is lyricism shot through with tragedy. Shostakovich's later Trio in E minor is tragedy shot through with irony. Copland's one and only Vitebsk Trio is irony shot through with tragedy. Joining the works together was brilliant, but it is of course more than that. The line from early through later Shostakovich to early Copland has never been drawn before and it reveals connections that heretofore have never been so well illuminated. But neither the programming nor the music would have worked without the brilliant performances of Trio Wanderer. The fire and passion and power of their playing is matched by the soulful depths of their interpretations and few finer performances have ever been available. Harmonia Mundi's sound puts the performance in the room with you.
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