Weiss Kaplan Stumpf Trio: Beethoven: Complete Piano Trios
Bridge Records

Founded in 2001, the NYC-based Weiss Kaplan Stumpf Trio—violinist Mark Kaplan, pianist Yael Weiss, and cellist Peter Stumpf—assumed its current incarnation in 2014 with the latter's joining. The group's commitment to new music is shown in the many works it's commissioned and featured on its recordings; indicative of that, releases in 2014 and 2015 presented material by Lera Auerbach, Chen Yi, Clancy Newman, Paul Schoenfeld, and Fred Lerdahl. But Weiss Kaplan Stumpf Trio is as committed to earlier repertoire too, this exemplary collection of Beethoven piano trios irrefutable proof. Recorded at NYC's American Academy of Arts and Letters, the release finds the trio tackling six trios and two single-movement variations. These meticulous and beautifully rendered treatments weigh in at almost four hours, but every note counts.

Calling any recording a landmark is risky business, but certainly there's no denying that the release is a major achievement and a high-water mark in the Weiss Kaplan Stumpf Trio's career. The separation that exists between composer and performer seems to collapse when the connection between them is so seamless. These are musicians who've clearly absorbed the composer's intentions and scores in the deepest manner. Phrases are articulated throughout with care and transitions deftly executed. The delicacy with which the musicians deliver the material says much about its command of nuance. The precision with which they play might appear effortless but is the result, of course, of the thousands of hours they've spent playing together.

In liner notes (contributions from each of the group members appear in the release booklet), Weiss describes the process of carefully examining Beethoven's manuscripts to reach as closely as possible the essence of the music. They're roadmaps to be sure, yet they also allow room for individual interpretation on the performer's part; she's correct in deeming the works “flexible living organisms.” In his text, Stumpf mentions a detail very much worth reiterating, specifically that whereas Beethoven's predecessors would often have the cello simply double the piano's bass line and rarely take a lead role, in Beethoven's the cello becomes a voice equal in importance to the others and its full expressive range exploited.

The set gets off to an auspicious start with the Piano Trio in D Major, Op. 70, No. 1 “Ghost” (1808), its effervescent opening “Allegro vivace e con brio” rendered breezily and the balance between the instruments precisely calibrated. High energy is sustained, and synchronicity and counterpoint are handled superbly too. In dramatic contrast to the lively opener, the alluring “Largo assai ed espressivo” that follows opts for restraint, its occasional flirtations with funereal mystery perhaps the reason for the “Ghost” label. The trio plays uptempo material as impressively, as shown by its interplay in the concluding “Presto” and the fastidious attention to detail the three bring to the score. The music rolls smoothly off their tongues, so to speak, just as it does for the entirety of the release.

Published when Beethoven was twenty-five, the Piano Trio in E-flat Major, Op. 1, No. 1 (1793-94) is emblematic of youthful vitality, energy, and imagination. While the uptempo movements exemplify those qualities, the “Adagio cantabile” arrests for its graceful counterpoint and blissful serenity. Delightful too are the “Scherzo: Allegro assai,” as lively and playful as expected, and the “Finale: Presto,” whose virtuosic challenges are met, not surprisingly, with aplomb by the musicians. Written during the same period, the Piano Trio in G major, Op. 1, No. 2 (1793-94) is elevated by some wonderfully inspired playing in the sweetly singing “Adagio – Allegro vivace,” lyrical tenderness in the gentle “Largo con espressione,” playful charm in the “Scherzo: Allegro,” and exuberant joy in the “Finale: Presto.” The middle disc's major draw is, naturally, the Piano Trio in B-flat Major, Op. 97, “Archduke” (1811), at forty-two minutes a towering composition completed when Beethoven was forty. While the opening allegro enraptures with its becalmed beauty, pizzicato passages, and piano trills, the scherzo and the concluding allegro invigorate with gleeful radiance. It's the noble slow movement, however, that perhaps registers most powerfully, particularly when its sombre ache is voiced as exquisitely as it is here.

The final disc's renditions of the Piano Trio in C minor, Op. 1, No. 3 (1793-94) and Piano Trio in E-flat major, Op. 70, No. 2 (1808) are no less engaging. Initiated by a spirited “Allegro con brio,” the former enters stealthily and then, with Weiss at the helm, quickly entices with romantic merriment and brisk runs. The swooning andante is loveliness incarnate and the “Finale: Prestissimo” as assertive and animated as anticipated. The E-flat major trio opens restrainedly too, in this case with sinuous gestures that grow ever more entrancing as the movement advances. The subsequent “Allegretto” and “Allegretto ma non troppo” exude a surprisingly plaintive and even folk-like air; dynamic by comparison is the robust “Finale: Allegro.” Augmenting the six formal trios are Ten Variations in G Major on “Ich bin der Schneider Kakadu”, Op. 121a (1816) and Fourteen Variations in E-flat Major, Op. 44 (1792), both effective at illustrating the composer's genius for elaborating on a simple theme and revealing the many ways by which it can be refracted. In the case of “Kakadu,” the music progresses through episodes that are sombre, carefree, florid, and mysterious. The earlier work advances beyond its pretty thematic statement into a series of graceful variations, violin dancing acrobatically in one and cello and piano separately replicating its moves in those that follow.

April 2024