Baroque: The Eroica Trio | The Eroica Trio, Antonio Vivaldi, ...

Baroque: The Eroica Trio | The Eroica Trio, Antonio Vivaldi, ... | Beautiful & Haunting

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Baroque: The Eroic...

	Baroque: The Eroica Trio The Eroica Trio, Antonio Vivaldi, ... EMI Classics, 2000 average customer review:based on 15 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

The most arresting aspect of this disc is the playing. The members of the Eroica Trio are splendid technically and tonally, and their ensemble is impeccable. Musically, the recording is misnamed and misguided. There is nothing baroque about it, except the names of the composers. The trio's intense, throbbing, driven style is appropriate for the lush, romantic music with which it made its name, but is far removed from the pristine purity of the baroque. Not surprisingly, the players choose the most romanticized, overloaded editions available; moreover, many of the pieces are of dubious authorship or not written for their instruments. Their justification is that baroque composers themselves made countless transcriptions of their own and others' works, and that later virtuoso arrangers created their own tradition, but the former preserved the originals' style, while the latter are now widely frowned upon. Their most unfortunate selection is an arrangement of Bach's famous chaconne by an English film composer: blown up with newly invented material and grandiose cadenzas, it simulates a full orchestra. The packaging of the disc makes one wonder whether these fine players are being promoted for their talent or their glamorous good looks: credit is given to the photographer, the make-up artist, hair and clothing stylists, and providers of the dresses. Is there a message here about the status of women musicians? --Edith Eisler

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Some excellent baroque music, exquisitely performed

Yes, it's the Eroica Trio! And for those who care, pianist Erica Nickrenz's hair looks just great these days, better than back in 1999 when the trio made this recording. Violinist Adela Pena is as good as ever, and the ringleader of the trio is, as always, cellist Sara Sant'Ambrogio. They're versatile, with a fine repertoire. And in this album, they try some interesting Baroque works. I think they handle them superbly.

The works by Loeillet, Buxtehude, and Lotti may not be all that familiar even to lovers of classical music. But that's not true for the well-known Albinoni adagio, which the trio plays extremely well. Nor the Vivaldi C-minor sonata, which gets a terrific and spirited performance.

Much as I love the Vivaldi work, my favorite piece on this disc is surely the Anne Dudley arrangement of Bach's famous D-minor Chaconne. That Chaconne originally closed the Second Partita for Unaccompanied Violin. But pianists will know it for the versions by Ferruccio Busoni, Leopold Godowsky, and Johannes Brahms. These are challenging arrangements, with maybe Brahms' (for the left hand alone) being the most notorious. Of the piano versions, I like Busoni's the best, and I think Dudley (the composer of the score for "The Full Monty") may have been influenced by this version. In any case, I think Dudley did a great job with her arrangement and I applaud the Eroica Trio for their wonderful performance of it. I hope this performance will stimulate more chamber musicians to learn this arrangement as well.

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Beautiful & Haunting

I love this cd. If passion were put to music, it would be this cd. I have given it 3 times as gifts and played my own copy so many times it broke in half. I'm going to get a new copy in the morning.

Beautiful especially to a non-purist--4.5 sounds good to me

I heard the trio in person in Washington--they were awesome. This CD may not be the most "baroque" of CDs, but it's very, very lovely. Yes, they had to adapt the music to a trio & for their instruments. Somehow, I think that's been done before--again, & again...So, I'm not a purist. Interestingly, the Albinoni Adagio (a very famous piece indeed) was not (according to the accompanying booklet) really his--but mostly the work of his biographer Remo Giazotto. I have 3 other recordings of it, & I like this one best. Richard Kapp's "Greatest Hits of 1720" (B00000258Y) is 10:17 minutes long but elegant; Essential Classics' "Baroque Masterpieces" (B00005YQL6) is 8:24; & "The Best of the Eroica Trio" (B0006SSOQS) is 6:57. This version is 6:58. Quite a variety! The "new setting, devised by the group's members" works for me. I only wish they'd try some Telemann & maybe Handel! I like this CD better than "The Best of the Eroica Trio" probably because I like Baroque.

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Great CD

This is one of the few classical CDs I have that I can listen to over and over again. I love it and think it is fantastic. Anyone who likes classical music but doesn't always feel inclined to listen to it should buy this. It's wonderful.

An imaginative and brilliant version of this material

I'll join those who are more favorable about this disc than Edith Eisler. I agree that this is certainly an unconventional approach to Baroque material, but the results are wonderful -- very lush and expressive. The eminent Ms. Eisler expresses an opinion that is not strictly musical concerning the CD's packaging. Query whether this opinion colored her view of the music.

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