PACM028:
Piano Trio No 7 in B flat, The "Archduke", Op. 97
- Beethoven
MP3
price
Jean
Fournier, Antonio Janigro, Paul Badura-Skoda
Released in 1952 as Westminster LP 51-31
Download ID: 194448, 399314
(Duration
43'03")
Play
sample movement:
The
Westminster catalogue remains to this day eternally fascinating
the present performance is always musical and well worth
exploring...
Colin Clarke, Musicweb
International review
To include
repeats or not to include repeats? If it means your listener will be forever
changing sides of 78s you'll probably leave most of them out, whereas
with the fuller span of an LP you can afford to be a little more generous
- hence the extra five and half minutes of Beethoven heard on this recording,
by comparison to our 1943 Solomon-Holst-Pini release (PACM022).
However,
if the third, slow movement had been taken here at the same pace as the
earlier recording a further minute could have been added to the duration
here - clearly the trio felt no need to use their extra time needlessly!
I've chosen
to highlight with our free download here the final movement, where Fournier,
Janigro and Badura-Skoda begin with a sense of real jollity so clear that
you can definitely hear them smiling at each other as they play!
(Having written that I await a series of e-mails detailing how they
hated each other and never spoke...)
Once again
I'm glad to report an excellent job of restoration by Peter Harrison,
who seems to do the impossible and raise the bar every month on what can
be achieved from these 1950's mono recordings. Take a listen and you'll
hear a superb recording, wonderfully played, and not a hint that it's
54 years old.
Find
out more:
"Archduke"
Piano Trio in B flat 4th mvt. - Allegro moderato