Mendelssohn
Piano Trios Nos 1 & 2
Jeremy Denk (piano), Joshua Bell (violin), Steven Isserlis (cello)
Sony Classical 19802832482 60:37 mins
Clip: Mendelssohn – Piano Trio No. 1, III. Scherzo Leggiero e vivace
Three star musicians, great friends and colleagues over many years, reunite here for a feast of Felix Mendelssohn. Steven Isserlis is a distant relative of the composer and his long-standing identification with the warmth, sensitivity and elan of the music is undimmed.
He, Joshua Bell and Jeremy Denk may be well-established collaborators, but the result still feels like a musical crossroads for very different performers, rather than the streamlined effect you might expect from a full-time group.
That can be an advantage, though: they’re in excellent sympathy, yet each has individual qualities to bring to the musical table. Denk is supremely fiery at the piano.
Bell offsets him with wonderfully consistent, bright and focused sound, while Isserlis’s duskier tone is full of character, able to growl, glide and take risks at the high-jump. Recorded sound is generally fine, complementing the musicians with a good mix of warmth and clarity.
The ‘encore’ piece is the original version of the D minor Trio’s slow movement, the transcription of which Isserlis credits the pianist Ron Regev in his booklet notes. It’s a fascinating extra, bringing insight into how Mendelssohn, an obsessive reworker, sought to raise its level from very good to supreme.
The recording isn’t entirely quibble-free – for instance, the piano is perhaps too favoured in the balance, especially compared to the cello – but that’s a small grumble.
And as a whirling blend of lyricism and drive, conversation and argument, polish and spontaneity, the performances are genuinely exciting, with such ‘oomph’ that it’s hard to tear oneself away. Jessica Duchen
