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John Fields   24/7/2003	Subject: Raff Piano Trios Message: Walking around a Music shop a few months ago, i came across a cd of 2 piano trios(1-4)by the then unkown to me, Joachim Raff. Being a great lover of chamber music with piano, i purchased it and took it home. To cut a long(but happy ...)story short,iwas amazed buy the incredible beauty of the music. If anybody knowas of additional masterp[ieces by Raff or by any other composer fromt his period ,i would be very grateful.
John Boyer   28/7/2003	RE: Raff Piano Trios IP: Logged Message: All the following works are chamber works with piano from the romantic period. Hence, "quartet" and "quintet" mean "piano quartet" and "piano quintet", etc. Anton Arensky: Trio #1 in D minor. This work is almost a repertory standard, but not quite, so it's worth mentioning. Some big-name ensembles have tackled it, so it shouldn't be hard to find. Avoid the Rembrandt Trio's performance on Dorian. Dynamic range is excessive and the slow movement is rushed through at nearly twice normal speed. Cecile Chaminade: Trio #1 in D minor. Thoroughly delightful and charming work. Available on a nice recording from ASV. The older Vox recording suffers from intonation problems from the violinist. Arthur Foote: Trios #1 & #2; Quartet Op. 23, Quintet Op. 38; Cello Sonata American composer Arthur Foote is little known outside our shores, but his chamber music is top notch. The trios, the quartet, and the quintet are available on Naxos's "American Classics" series, volumes 3, 2, and 1, respectively. Trio #1 shows a variety of influences, including Mendelssohn (whose D minor trio is quoted in the 1st movement) and Rubinstein (the coda of the finale of his once-popular Trio in F serves as the model for the coda of the finale of this work). Trio #2 is a more mature piece, more American sounding, with a particularly beautiful slow movement. The Quartet is a hoot from first note to last...another must-hear piece. I would recommend starting with volumes 2 and 3 of the series. The Cello Sonata is available in a fine performance on Dorian, coupled with the Barber. Hermann Goetz: Trio, Op. 1 Goetz died when he was 36, too soon to establish himself as firmly as he ought to have. The Trio is his best chamber work, but the other chamber works with piano are fine to. All can be heard on a nice two-disc set from CPO. Heinrich von Herzogenberg: Cello Sonatas #1-3; Quartet #2 Best known as a friend of Brahms, though more accurately he was the husband of a friend of Brahms. All the above works are available on CPO. Not quite Brahms's majesty, but much that is beautiful. The Quartet #1 is OK, but not as fine as the second. Friedrich Kiel: Quintets 1 & 2; Trios 1, 3, 4, and 5. A very much un-sung composer who doesn't even rate an entry in Groves. The quintets at times sound so much like Brahms that it would be easy to mistake them as discarded works by the master. Kiel, by the way, was 12 years Brahms's senior. The trios are full of lovely stuff. Trio #3 has an especially delicious opening that is harmonically ambiguous, then resolves into bright sunshine. A real delight. It can be heard played by the Abegg trio on a rather hard-to-find Tacet recording, a re-release of an Intercord disc from the late '80s. Trios 1, 4, and 5 are coupled on a Koch disc. The quintets are paired together on a Marco Polo recording. Carl Reinecke: Cello Sonatas 1-3; Quintet, Op 83; Trios Op. 188, 264, & 274 Reinecke was a solid, tuneful composer who continued churning out fine works well into his 80s. He was 81 when he completed the Trio, Op. 274. The cello sonatas, especially the first, reveal in inventive mind. The Quintet is solidly crafted. The three trios each contain at least one wind instrument: Op. 188 is for oboe and horn, Op. 264 is for clarinet and viola, and Op. 274 is for clarinet and horn. All are superb pieces and can be heard together on a well-played and recorded Klavier disc. The cello sonatas and the Quintet are available on CPO. Josef Rheinberger: Cello Sonata; Violin Sonatas 1 & 2; Horn Sonata; Trio #3; Quartet; Quintet; Nonet Rheinberger is the Lichtenstein's most famous composer...big deal, right? Luckily for us, Thorofon recorded all the chamber music in a 7 volume series. The trios can also be had on a 2 disc MD+G set. For the violin sonatas, I would recommend the Christophorus release. The piano in the Thorofon is too far in the background, and the sound is dry. Of his 4 trios, only #3 really works for me, but you might think otherwise. The Violin Sonata #2 opens with a glorious melody that Rheinberger doesn't quite know what to do with, but this doesn't detract from its beauty...the slow movement is pretty fine, too. The Quartet, nominally in E-flat, begins by alternating between the home key and C minor before finally settling down. The balance of the first movement is simply gorgeous. The Cello Sonata abounds in rapturous melodies, while the Horn Sonata fills a gap in the repertory. The unusual Nonet ends with a rambunctious finale ala Haydn. Anton Rubinstein: Violin Sonatas 1-3; Cello Sonatas 1 & 2; Piano Trios 1-3; Viola Sonata, Quintet, Op. 55 Rubinstein's duo sonatas are among his best works. The Cello Sonatas have been recorded a surprising number of times, but you are cautioned to avoid the cavernous sounding Russian Disc. The violin sonatas have not seen much recording. A complete set was available on LP from MHS. As for CD recordings, 1 & 2 were recorded for Nuova Era, while #3 is on a hard-to-find Tiziano, sporting the same team heard on the Nuova Era. Recordings of the trios have appeared on Russian Disc (1 + 3), Melodiya (#3), and RealSound (2 & 3). Russian Disc gets a luke warm recommendation because it has the only recording of #1. For #3, better to go with the hard-to-find Melodiya (coupled with the cello pieces, Op. 11) or the wonderful RealSound discs, best obtained from their website, www.realsound.it (#2 is coupled with the Smetana, #3 is joined by the Taneyev, Op. 22). The Viola Sonata is quite beautiful, and who writes viola sonatas? The Quintet Op. 55 is the one for piano and winds, one of Rubinstein's most graceful creations. Avoid at all costs the Russian Disc! Xaver Scharwenka: Violin Sonata; Trios 1 & 2 Scharwenka was a virtuoso pianist, but he lets the strings shine in his chamber pieces. His complete chamber works for piano, originally issued by Collins, are now available in a two disc set from Helios/Hyperion. The Violin Sonata is quite original, with a lovely slow movement and a stirring finale. The 2nd Trio also has a very beautiful slow movement and ends with a stirring "ala Zingarese" finale. Good heavens, there are so many others...Josef Joachim (Viola Variations, best heard un-cut on the Conifer release), Robert Fuchs (Violin Sonatas, Cello Sonatas; Trio for Violin, Viola, and Piano), Roentgen (Cello Sonata #1, Violin Sonata Op. 20)... I could go on all day!
Eric Schissel   28/7/2003	RE: Raff Piano Trios IP: Logged Message: Some excellent recommendations in Mr. Boyer's post, I think, though my overall opinion of Rheinberger is probably higher (on the other hand I haven't had a chance to hear the Thorofon recording of the violin sonatas- I only have the Christophorus to go by.) I'd be very remiss if I didn't mention the (to my ears excellent) chamber contributions of Felix Draeseke (2 viola sonatas originally for viola alta, cello sonata, clarinet sonata, 2 string quintets (one originally for violotta and quartet,) three as yet unrecorded string quartets, among other works- available only on the AK-Coburg label except for the piano sonata and the horn quintet, though) and of Louis Vierne (piano quintet, violin sonata, cello sonata and string quartet not to be neglected, but other works as well, well-played on Timp