Destination Paris

Album review

The string trio for much of its existence has been an even more severe medium than the already rigorous string quartet, but for much of this debut release by the multinational Lendvai String Trio the mood is light and ebullient. None of the four works here could be called common, but the quality is uniformly high, and the performances are lively from beginning to end. The biggest find may be the absolutely ebullient String Trio of 1933 by the sorely underrated Jean Françaix, with three short, joyously humorous fast movements and a gorgeous lyrical Andante in the Poulenc neo-classic mode. The two string trios by Bohuslav Martinu are weightier, less tonally oriented works, the earlier String Trio No. 1, H. 136, of 1923 especially so; the work was written when the young Martinu had just arrived in Paris and was eager to establish his progressive credentials. Still, the Poco Allegro finale (track 9) is a Czech dance that suggests what might have happened if Dvorák had lived long enough to hear Bartók. The intensely melodic Aubade in C major of George Enescu, from 1899, is the earliest work on the program, which examines the Paris-to-Eastern Europe axis of music at several different points. This album from Britain's small Stone Records label is a delight, and its novel black-and-white graphic design is an attraction in itself.
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