The Van Baerle Trio's Beethoven cycle has been rightly praised, both in its general approach and in its particulars. All of the albums feature a piano by builder Chris Maene, a modern instrument, but a small one that borrows design elements from fortepianos of Beethoven's time. The result is about as far as can be imagined from the booming Rostropovich-Gilels-Kogan Beethoven trios of the golden age, but, as George Clinton might have observed, free your mind, and your ears will follow. The Piano Trio in B flat major, Op. 97 ...
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The Van Baerle Trio's Beethoven cycle has been rightly praised, both in its general approach and in its particulars. All of the albums feature a piano by builder Chris Maene, a modern instrument, but a small one that borrows design elements from fortepianos of Beethoven's time. The result is about as far as can be imagined from the booming Rostropovich-Gilels-Kogan Beethoven trios of the golden age, but, as George Clinton might have observed, free your mind, and your ears will follow. The Piano Trio in B flat major, Op. 97 ("Archduke") is delicate and joyous, with flexible tempos in the first movement kicking off an interpretation that conceives of the work as intimate. That reading is strengthened by the presence here of the Allegretto for piano trio, WoO 39, a student piece written for the young pianist Maximilane Brentano, daughter of the possible "Immortal Beloved," Antonie Brentano (and, a few writers have suggested, perhaps Beethoven's daughter as well); the work, as played here, has affinities...
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