Emanuel Ax, Leonidas Kavakos, and Yo-Yo Ma: Beethoven for Three
Sony Classical

There's nothing gimmicky about the idea of reducing an orchestral score to a piano trio. As Emanuel Ax clarifies, it used to be completely normal for a symphony to be cast in arrangements for small instrument groupings before the full orchestral version materialized years later. For that reason, the pianist and his fellow Beethoven for Three members, cellist Yo-Yo Ma and violinist Leonidas Kavakos, regard what they're doing as “going back to the roots.”

Such reverse-engineering works on a number of levels. Familiar material dressed in new garb allows it to be experienced afresh; hearing a Beethoven symphony recast fascinates for seeing the grandeur of the orchestral version translated into an intimate chamber-styled treatment; and, of course, an arrangement featuring three instruments allows for the impeccable musicianship of the trio to be appreciated all the more easily. The Symphony No. 6 in F Major, Op. 68, “Pastorale,” makes for an especially interesting translation as it requires the trio to represent the aspects of the natural world evoked in the symphony, from twittering birds to a brook and storm. The three are indebted to Shai Wosner for the artful arrangement he created for them.

This isn't the first time the three, who first performed as a trio at Tanglewood in 2014 with a Brahms set, have tackled a Beethoven symphony. That initial foray occurred at the same festival seven years later when they played his second and, responding to the enthusiastic reception it received, recorded and released their debut, Beethoven for Three: Symphonies Nos. 2 and 5, shortly thereafter. For the followup, the trio pairs the programmatic sixth with Beethoven's Piano Trio No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 1, No. 3, which allows for an illuminating comparison when the one has been newly fashioned for the trio and the other is performed in the manner in which it was created. Whereas the fifth and seventh symphonies are heavy and dramatic, a major part of the sixth's appeal has to do with its comparative lightness and lyrical quality. There's charm aplenty in both the work itself and the performance the trio breathes into it. At every moment, the joy they have performing the material together is palpable.

The instrumentalists veritably sing as they advance through the opening movement, its “Awakening of cheerful feelings on arriving in the countryside” description an accurate distillation of the country visitors' carefree mood as they undertake their trek. As they reach the brook and are enraptured by the peaceful surroundings, the composer's lilting music turns serene; following the merrymaking of the effervescent central movement, a violent storm briefly disrupts the outing before it concludes with a radiant Shepherd's song. Written five years before his first symphony, Beethoven's four-part Piano Trio No. 3 in C Minor arrived when he was twenty-five, but already his genius is apparent in the sophistication of the writing and the elegance with which the voices intertwine. Their execution of the andante movement is particularly lovely, though that's hardly the only thing to recommend their treatment when the “Menuetto” is so delectably breezy. Still, as fine as the rendering is, it's the symphony that's the release's main draw for offering a compelling reimagining of an iconic orchestral work. One naturally expects there will be as many Beethoven for Three releases as there are Beethoven symphonies, the question therefore shifting to which one of the remaining six will come next.

January 2023