Escher Trio plays Arensky & Korngold (2006)

This album combining the Arensky Piano Trio No. 1 and the Korngold Piano Trio is a great debut for the Escher Trio. The three musicians -- Sonja van Beek, violin; Johan van Iersel, cello; and Jeroen Bal, piano -- make an excellent team, sympathetic to the others' parts and in accord with their interpretations and sound. Beyond that, they also make the trios come to life with passion and energy without overdoing it. They draw the listener into the music with their lyrical and sensitive phrasing, which also makes the two ... Read More

This album combining the Arensky Piano Trio No. 1 and the Korngold Piano Trio is a great debut for the Escher Trio. The three musicians -- Sonja van Beek, violin; Johan van Iersel, cello; and Jeroen Bal, piano -- make an excellent team, sympathetic to the others' parts and in accord with their interpretations and sound. Beyond that, they also make the trios come to life with passion and energy without overdoing it. They draw the listener into the music with their lyrical and sensitive phrasing, which also makes the two trios hold together as a program. The Escher Trio plays the Arensky with a graceful lightness that hints of Vienna, a perfect match for Korngold's trio, which is obviously Viennese. Bal has delicate, rippling runs in the opening of the Arensky, and his feathery sound is matched by van Beek and Iersel in the Scherzo with dancing airiness. The third movement, beginning with a lovely solo by Iersel, is a sorrowful song, not the heavy dirge that it sometimes can be. The finale is the most... Read Less