DVORAK

 

Piano Trio No. 3 in F minor, Op. 65 (B 130)

1. Allegro ma non troppo

2. Allegretto grazioso

3. Poco adagio

4. Finale : Allegro con brio

 

Piano Trio No. 4 in E minor, Op. 90 "Dumky" (B 166)

1. Lento maestoso

2. Poco adagio

3. Andante

4. Andante moderato

5. Allegro

6. Lento maestoso

 

Smetana Trio (Jitka Cechova, Jana Novakova, Jan Palenicek).

 

The Smetana Trio's second recording is devoted to Antonín Dvorak's greatest chamber works, the Piano Trios No. 3 in F minor, Op. 65 and No. 4 in E minor, Op. 90 "Dumky."  The Smetana Trio - with its ideally balanced tone, dynamics and expression - presents another of its outstanding

interpretations with musical enthusiasm and feel for chamber ensemble.  A recording to please even the most demanding listeners.

 

Dvorak's piano trios in an outstanding interpretation.

 

Today's members of the Smetana Trio are relatively young, but the ensemble goes back three-quarters of a century: it was founded by the present-day cellist Jan Pálenícek's father in 1930, inspired by the example of Cortot, Thibaud and Casals. This combination of the weight of tradition with the vitality of youth makes for invigorating performances of two of Dvorák's best-known chamber works.

The "dumka" that the composer used as the model for his Op 90 was originally a morose Ukrainian ballad form, but Dvorák injected it with contrasting colours and moods, and it is these that are expounded with such life and diligence by the Smetana Trio through the work's six movements.

The forward-sounding recording enables Pálenícek to make his mark from the opening bars (though some may conceivably find his tone too strident here), and his colleagues - violinist Jana Vonásková -Nováková and pianist Jitka Cechová - soon join in what becomes a celebration of dance rhythms and expressive narrative.

Their performance of the more conventional, four-movement F minor Trio is no less inspired, capturing its agitation as successfully as its lyricism.

Matthew Rye, Telegraph

 

Supraphon SU38722