Rautio Piano Trio
70:09
Resonus RES 10386
This brings the splendid Rautio Piano Trio’s survey of the Beethoven trios near to completion, leaving just the crowning glory of the ‘Archduke’ – and perhaps also the rather enigmatic so-called ‘Kakadu’ Variations – to come. Reviews of previous issues on this site can be found here and here. The new issue not only brings the two ‘middle period’ trios of op 70, no 1 in D, ‘Ghost’ and 2 in E-flat composed in 1808, but also two early piano trio movements, the Allegretto in B-flat, WoO 39, and the very brief Allegretto in E-flat, Hess 48. The latter is believed to date from around 1790 and is possibly associated with a cultural and political club in Bonn, a favourite haunt of Beethoven. With its guileless loping theme, it is of relatively little significance, but WoO 39 is a genuine bon bouche. Written in 1812, it was a gift for Maximiliane, the young daughter of Beethoven’s friend Antonie Brentano, apparently to encourage her progress on the piano. It is a piece of charm and innocence, with a particularly beguiling folksy secondary idea, played here with an agreeable light touch and some persuasive hints of rubato, while the greater intensity and twists and turns of the later stages are ideally captured.
The two trios of op 70, dedicated to the Countess Erdödy, cover rather more familiar ground, of course, particularly in the case of the ‘Ghost’ Trio. The CD’s notes concentrate near totally on the fascinating personal reflections on the D-major Trio of the Rautio’s pianist, Jan Rautio, who reminds us that its central Largo assai gained the trio its nickname from Beethoven’s pupil Carl Czerny long after Beethoven’s death. For Czerny, the spectral elements of the movement reminded him of the first appearance of the Ghost in Hamlet, while Rautio, noting the trios of op 70 were composed in Heiligenstadt, finds in this darkly disturbing movement psychological elements deriving from the famous Heiligenstadt Testament of 1802. But this vividly evocative movement will arouse many different emotions and reactions. It is salient to note, as indeed Rautio does, that the outer movements of the trio inspire quite a different image, their exuberance ideally suited to the wonderfully uninhibited playing the Rautios have captured throughout the series, the recognition that there is as much good humour and spirited life in Beethoven’s music as there is deep spirituality or tragedy. The development of the opening Allegro of the ‘Ghost’ here inspires a contrapuntal whirlwind played with breathtaking virtuosity, while the recapitulation brings some wonderfully fleet playing from Rautio and a few magically telling bars of repose in the coda.
Opus 70, no 2 is an expansive work in the more usual four movements that opens with a mysterious imitative slow passage from which the bright Allegro emerges, a movement again notable for some sparkling piano work and the excellent sense of balance that has been another of the primary features of the Rautio’s performances. The variations of the succeeding Allegretto have a theme redolent of a folk dance of great charm, their somewhat halting progress expressed with playfully engaging wit. The exuberant final Allegro demands and receives virtuoso playing with a sense of fun never far away.
So this beautifully recorded CD marks another distinctive chapter in the Rautio Piano Trios survey. There is a small caveat in that it would have been helpful to listeners to have something in the notes on the other trios. For those interested in the instruments employed, Rautio has here moved onto a copy by Paul McNulty of a grand piano by Conrad Graf dating from 1819. As recorded here, it has an agreeable sonority across its range, with a not dissimilar silvery texture in the upper range to the copy of the 1805 Walter employed on the first two discs. I understand that the final issue in the series is due in March 2027. It will mark the completion of a very notable and distinctive series.
Brian Robins