MUSIC WEB INTERNATIONAL
April 2020
Recommended: Impeccable performances of two favourite trios in first-rate sound
By Ralph Moore
“These two favourites among Beethoven’s piano trios have been frequently paired and recorded and a new recording would have to be special to displace established choices. Fortunately, these performances meet every criterion of excellence in regard to sound and execution; the Vienna Piano Trio is among the most celebrated of its kind, playing with the kind of homogeneity and rapport which comes from long-standing interaction and experience. Here, they follow up their recording of the Op.70 piano trios with a second top-quality issue, including the most famous of Beethoven’s works in that genre. Vibrato is present but restrained, judiciously applied rather than lavished on the music and the plush, sumptuous tone of the string instruments – a 1761 Gagliano violin and a Stradivari cello from 1698 - is much in evidence.”
OPUS HAUTE DÉFINITION
April 2020
Magnifique: Ludwig van Beethoven - Trios pour piano
By Jean-Jacques Millo
“Le Vienna Piano Trio est ici en terre conquise et leur interprétation est d’une inspiration indéniable. Avis aux amateurs.”
THE BOSTON MUSICAL INTELLIGENCER
February 2020
VPT Shows TLC
By Josiah Fisk
“Who goes to hear a long-established chamber group in a program of chestnuts expecting something out of the ordinary? And yet the Vienna Piano Trio’s Haydn, Beethoven and Brahms at Rockport’s Shalin Liu Performance Center this past Sunday afternoon showed that it is possible to defy such expectations, with brilliance, originality, and nary a gimmick within earshot.
The first thing the ear notices about the trio’s style is its remarkable degree of polish. Unlike many musical qualities, polish can be defined by a small set of fairly objective criteria: play in tune, play cleanly, play together. To an almost uncanny degree, this ensemble prevailed on all three counts, with notably beautiful tone and ease of control to boot. But what made their interpretations truly absorbing was everything going on beneath the polish.”
ARTSFILE OTTAWA
February 2020
By Peter Robb
“Mendl may be the only original member left, but you would never know they hadn’t all been playing together for the past 32 years (well, other than the fact McCarroll would have been two years old). It’s true that they are uncommonly expressive, constantly looking at each other, communicating through eyebrow signals and intakes of breath. But you can also sense an invisible cord linking the three at all times. There’s not a note, not a rest that isn’t produced in a perfect, harmonious balance between individuality and community.”
CLASSICAL MUSIC SENTINEL
February 2020
By Jean-Yves Duperron
“Its members may not be the original line-up at the present, but the Vienna Piano Trio has been an active chamber music ensemble for over 30 years now, and it shows. There's a natural ease to their playing that lends everything they touch a high level of authenticity. And we're not talking about getting all the notes right here, but rather the pneuma behind these notes. They perfectly project Beethoven's youthful 'classical' enthusiasm and audacity in the Piano Trio Op. 1, No. 3, as well as his 'romantic' hunger in the slow movement of the Piano Trio Op. 97, a work that holds a certain status within his output.”
THE STRAD
First concert of the Brahms Series at Wigmore Hall
January 2020
By Tim Homfray
“In the E minor Cello Sonata op.38, Hagen was heroic in full flow, but could play with captivating stillness. … McCarroll was brisk and purposeful in the Violin Sonata in G major op.78. … After the interval they joined together for the first version of the B major First Piano Trio op.8. Their playing was big and lush, but could turn on an instant to white-toned bleakness with little or no vibrato. After the jaunty Scherzo, with its strange pizzicato ending, and the wide-ranging characters of the Adagio non troppo, the Finale had power and passion, with sections that were strange and unsettling.”
GRAMOPHONE
September 2019
RAVEL; CHAUSSON Piano Trios (Vienna Piano Trio)
By Michelle Assay
“The Vienna Piano Trio already have a live recording of Ravel’s masterpiece in their portfolio (also for MDG, from 2011). But their latest venture adds finesse, maturity and lucidity, as well as warmer recording, to an already finely honed interpretation. There is a great sense of architecture within each movement, without detriment to the all important mercurial atmosphere. This is particularly the case for the third-movement Passacaille, where they sustain a long line, helped by a more flowing tempo than, say, the scarcely less fine Beaux Arts. The latter offer more of a contemplation, compared to the Vienna Trio’s persistent walk against wind and snowstorm.”
MUSIC WEB INTERNATIONAL
August 2019
By Dave Billinge
Ravel and Chausson: A highly recommended pairing
“I am very impressed by the power and subtlety on display here. Repeated listening to the Ravel only serves to underscore its greatness, even that finale sounding convincing in the hands of this, one of our foremost ensembles. Ravel uses the full dynamic range of these instruments, doing it with the most amazing range of instrumental colouration. This work alone makes the SACD worth purchasing.”