Playing With Fire

Album review

The Eaken Piano Trio pairs Ravel's Piano Trio with the remarkably similar Piano Trio No. 2 by Joaquín Turina for this recording. The second movement of the Turina is very much like Ravel's second movement, "Pantoum," with the strings alternating pizzicato and fluttering bows, but instead of the piano joining in the scherzo, Turina gives it longer, more melodic lines. Also, Turina's final movement sounds modal, just as Ravel's does. Both trios are full of smoothly shifting, colorful harmonies, and impassioned melodies, which the Eaken Trio plays with enthusiasm. Unfortunately, despite the energy and "fire," the group sounds like an ensemble at the edge of its technical capabilities in these trios. There are imperfections and inconsistancies in tone, missed notes in the piano and slightly off intonation in the strings, difficulty in sustaining phrases and just staying together. None of this is major, but it is noticeable and added all together can be disastrous, as at the end of the "Pantoum." The emotional height of that movement is just a musical mess. While the resonance in the sound of the recording actually lends itself to the Impressionistic colors of the music, the piano is a little bit more distant than the strings, as if it were something less than a full member of the ensemble. For a disc that could be a real sparkling treat of these two trios, it is a great disappointment.
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