Album
Trio Bohémo
Smetana, Schubert: Piano Trios
Digital services
Catalogue Number: SU 4344-2
Published: 23rd August 2024
Genre: Chamber Music
Format: 1 CD
This album has received following awards:
- Recording of the Week, Presto Music (2024)
- Classical Album of the Week, The Guardian (2024)
- Debut Album of the Year, Presto Music (2024)
Smetana, Schubert – Piano Trios / Trio Bohémo
Bedřich Smetana (1824–1884) – Piano Trio in G minor, Op. 15 (1855, rev. 1857). Franz Schubert (1797–1828) – Piano Trio No. 2 in E flat major, Op. 100 (D 929, 1827)
Trio Bohémo: Jan Vojtek – piano, Matouš Pěruška – violin, Kristina Vocetková – cello
Recorded at the Britten Studio, Snape Maltings, England. Producer Andrew Keener
“I am the instrument of a higher power. With God’s help and grace, I shall one day be a Liszt in technique and a Mozart as a composer.” The ambitious plan in the 18-year-old composer's diary was eventually fulfilled.He was a very sought-after pianist. As a composer, he left his mark most clearly in the cycle of symphonic poems titled Má vlast (My Country) and through chamber music in his Piano Trio and the String Quartet “From My Life”; those three works reflect tragic episodes in Smetana’s life. The Trio in G minor, one of the gems of 19th-century chamber music, was written in under three months of 1855 as an outgrowth of the composer’s immense sorrow over the death of his daughter. Smetana’s emotionally gripping trio is heard on the album together with one of the most important chamber works of the romantic era, Schubert’s monumental Piano Trio in E flat major (1827). This masterpiece was likewise written by a 30-year-old composer, but it is also one of Schubert’s last completed works; at the time, Schubert had only a year of life remaining. The ensemble reaching the depths of the two composers’ music on their debut album is the youthful Trio Bohémo, who have been appearing for several years with great success at prestigious competitions and on concert stages around the world (London’s Wigmore Hall, Vienna’s Musikverein), usually with programmes combining Czech and foreign repertoire. There is yet another important name behind the recording: the late Hatto Beyerle, a founding member of the Alban Berg Quartet, who coached the young ensemble in both works and set them on the path towards their own individual interpretation, seeking the meaning hidden behind the musical notation.
Trio Bohémo, Smetana, Schubert. A debut with a capital “D”.
Bedřich Smetana (1824–1884) – Piano Trio in G minor, Op. 15 (1855, rev. 1857). Franz Schubert (1797–1828) – Piano Trio No. 2 in E flat major, Op. 100 (D 929, 1827)
Trio Bohémo: Jan Vojtek – piano, Matouš Pěruška – violin, Kristina Vocetková – cello
Recorded at the Britten Studio, Snape Maltings, England. Producer Andrew Keener
“I am the instrument of a higher power. With God’s help and grace, I shall one day be a Liszt in technique and a Mozart as a composer.” The ambitious plan in the 18-year-old composer's diary was eventually fulfilled.He was a very sought-after pianist. As a composer, he left his mark most clearly in the cycle of symphonic poems titled Má vlast (My Country) and through chamber music in his Piano Trio and the String Quartet “From My Life”; those three works reflect tragic episodes in Smetana’s life. The Trio in G minor, one of the gems of 19th-century chamber music, was written in under three months of 1855 as an outgrowth of the composer’s immense sorrow over the death of his daughter. Smetana’s emotionally gripping trio is heard on the album together with one of the most important chamber works of the romantic era, Schubert’s monumental Piano Trio in E flat major (1827). This masterpiece was likewise written by a 30-year-old composer, but it is also one of Schubert’s last completed works; at the time, Schubert had only a year of life remaining. The ensemble reaching the depths of the two composers’ music on their debut album is the youthful Trio Bohémo, who have been appearing for several years with great success at prestigious competitions and on concert stages around the world (London’s Wigmore Hall, Vienna’s Musikverein), usually with programmes combining Czech and foreign repertoire. There is yet another important name behind the recording: the late Hatto Beyerle, a founding member of the Alban Berg Quartet, who coached the young ensemble in both works and set them on the path towards their own individual interpretation, seeking the meaning hidden behind the musical notation.
Trio Bohémo, Smetana, Schubert. A debut with a capital “D”.
Reviews
“This is the Trio Bohémo’s first CD, and it’s an immensely promising debut. Schubert’s great E flat Piano Trio D929 and Smetana’s Trio in G minor Op 15 do not make the most obvious pairing: composed 28 years apart, they belong to utterly different musical worlds. But the freshness and energy of the Bohémo’s playing quickly erases any suggestion of a mismatch… overall their approach to the challenges of what are two of the greatest works in the piano-trio repertory is utterly convincing.”
The Guardian, August 2024
“There’s a palpable synergy and conviviality to their playing which leaps out of the speakers… This is an ensemble which really can go from 0–60 in a couple of seconds, as they’re required to do many times in this opening movement – every dynamic shift is managed in perfect synchronicity, with no sense of bumps in the road or moments of rocky balance.”
Presto Music, August 2024
“Enfin l'éclaircie psychologique apportée par le Presto final se déploie avec une grâce aérienne qui ménage d'admirables ponctuations mélancoliques. Les mênnes qualités (écoute réciproque, raffinement extrême des nuances, lyrisme frémissant..) qui s'inscrivent clans un espace merveilleusement défini par la prise de son se retrouvent dans l'interprétation du Trio en mi bémol majeur de Schubert.”
Classica, November 2024
“Kleinod bei Smetana ist allerdings der im Tempo sehr frei genommene Andante-Satz. Wie die Cellistin, der Geiger und der exzellent zwischen Tasten-Attacke und Streicher-Ton vermittelnde Pianist hier den Widerstreit zwischen Trauer und Zuversicht, Depression und Lebenswille austarieren, das ist ganz große Trio-Kunst. Auch den langsamen Satz von Schuberts zweitem Trio (in Es-Dur) prägt ein „Seufzer, der sich bis zur Herzensangst steigern möchte“ (Schumann über Schubert), wobei sich das Cello hervorragend präsentiert, aber immer eingebettet bleibt in den exzellent ausbalancierten Gesamtklang. Tolles Trio!”
Rondo, September 2024
“They play with both passion but also precision, they listen to one another and they clearly love and enjoy this music. The string players, Matouš Peruška and Kristina Vocetková, can sing and soar, while the pianist, Jan Vojtek, makes light work of Schubert’s often complex and fast-moving piano writing. The recording, made somewhat surprisingly in Britain at Snape Maltings, is clear and has a pleasant bloom. There are, of course, many other recordings of each of these works, but if the coupling appeals, do not hesitate.”
MusicWeb International, October 2024
“Written during a very turbulent period in the composer’s life, Smetana’s 1855 Piano Trio is a work of considerable mood swings and unexpected twists and turns. At times, it is also heartbreakingly beautiful. Trio Bohémo navigate its many challenges superbly here, following it up with a delightfully agile Schubert Piano Trio No. 2.”
BBC Music Magazine, November 2024
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Bedřich Smetana
Piano Trio in G minor, Op. 15
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| 1. | I. Moderato assai | 11:00 | |
| 2. | II. Allegro, ma non agitato | 09:14 | |
| 3. | III. Finale. Presto | 09:22 | |
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Franz Schubert
Piano Trio No. 2 in E flat major, Op. 100, D. 929
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| 4. | I. Allegro | 16:09 | |
| 5. | II. Andante con moto | 08:51 | |
| 6. | III. Scherzo. Allegro moderato | 07:07 | |
| 7. | IV. Allegro moderato | 15:44 | |