Opus 100

Album review

Trio Opus 100 is a multinational group of young chamber musicians, and one hopes they'll go on to record other works besides the sprawling Schubert Piano Trio in E flat major, Op. 100, from which they take their name. The recording was made in 2009 (not 2011 as is indicated on the back cover of the CD, which would have been a neat trick inasmuch as the album was released in 2010), and it's paired with an earlier recording of the Piano Sonata in A major, D. 664, by pianist Oliver Schnyder. That works well, for it's Schnyder's musical personality that's prominent in the trio, as well, and he's a gifted Schubert interpreter. In the slow movements of both works he has the fine cantabile and the melancholy, yet soaring quality that marks the great Schubertians. Yet the collective decisions are likewise interesting and unusual. The trio is taken with all repeats, clocking in at nearly 50 minutes. The first movement is taken at a brisk (maybe too brisk, sample it) clip, weighting the entire sonata toward the vast finale. It would have been easy for the players to flag here, but they keep the momentum going throughout, aided by original touches like the punchy rhythms in the trio of the scherzo. Schnyder's quiet A major sonata almost has the feel of an encore after these exertions. The pieces were recorded in different locations; the church where the trio was played is a bit too live, but there isn't a lurch from one piece to the other. One looks forward to other "opus numbers" from this new group. Notes are in German and English.

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