# Beaux Arts Trio



## Steatopygous

The Beaux Arts Trio complete Philips recordings has lobbed in my mailbox, and what an amazing collection. The group was founded in 1955 and ended in 2008, with some personnel changes along the way. Get this 60-CD set and you get virtually the classical repertoire for piano trio, with earlier and later accounts of the major works (Beethoven, Schubert etc).
The founding first violinist, Daniel Guilet, was a friend of Ravel, and toured with him in France. Exciting to have him in two accounts of the Ravel trio (1956 and 1966) and another with the main trio (Pressler, Cohen, Greenhouse) who were the trio for most of its existence. 
What a pianist Pressler was! Warmly recommend this set. It's also designed to take up minimum room on the shelf, which I appreciate. If anyone doesn't already have most of the repertoire you couldn't do better than this. Of course the BAT would not be first choice in every work or even most,but they are a consummate trio, and it is good to have their unity of vision across the 60 CDs.


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## Weston

Tempting, but goodness me that's kind of an ugly package. (Yes, that sort of thing matters to me.)


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## Steatopygous

What's inside is excellent, if that helps. I already had a good chunk of it, but the duplication is worth it.
However, your point is well-founded - it's not an imaginatively packaged collection.


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## Chipomarc

Steatopygous said:


> What's inside is excellent, if that helps. I already had a good chunk of it, but the duplication is worth it.
> However, your point is well-founded - it's not an imaginatively packaged collection.


For being Beaux Arts and all I'm just not getting any Greco-Roman elements vibes out of the container.


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## Weston

I'm not dismissing it out of hand. It looks like a quick way to overflow one's collection overnight. I only have their three Brahms piano trios (or four if you count No. 4 in A major, Anh. 4/5 which my notes say is spurious), all excellent.


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## Pugg

Weston said:


> Tempting, but goodness me that's kind of an ugly package. (Yes, that sort of thing matters to me.)


I always think of the people who bought this all , or most of them as single (double) CD"S at full price over the years.
As for the box, I couldn't care less.


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## elgar's ghost

I have the BAT playing Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann and Brahms as a trio and also augmented by other players for various quartets and quintets.

Even though they were with Philips for most of their career that's still quite a hefty boxed set assuming most or all of the contents were previously available.

As for the colour scheme, I wonder if it has anything to do with Philips' livery over the years? I'm only guessing as I know some of their 60s records had a blue label and since then maroon has been a prominent colour. Not sure where the old gold comes into it though, unless it's some kind of compliment to the trio themselves.


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## haydnfan

Were the recordings remastered or just reissued?


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## Steatopygous

haydnfan said:


> Were the recordings remastered or just reissued?


So far as I can tell, just reissued. There's a note in the back of the booklet saying who mastered it (paschal Byrne, Craig Thompson, Ben Wiseman) and the Audio Archiving Company for CDs 11, 24, 26, 30, 36, 38, 54. Hope that tells you more than me.


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## Art Rock

By sheer coincidence, I am listening to their Arensky CD when this thread came up on TC.


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## Egyptian

Their Brahms recordings are great


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## Steatopygous

Egyptian said:


> Their Brahms recordings are great


Their Haydn, light, graceful yet involved, is certainly my favourite too.


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## Chrythes

I really enjoy their recordings of both Rachaminov(ff) piano trios. But the Brahms... Is it only me or is there a crucial mistake in the second movement of Brahms's Piano Trio No'1 on the record released by Phillips, at minute 2:49-50? I've also found the sound to be very dry.


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## haydnfan

Thanks to Philips bargain twofers, the Beaux Arts Trio served as my introduction to pretty much every piano trio and quartet out there. Phenomenal playing!


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## Vaneyes

*BAT* were a tremendous influence as CD made its way in the '80's. The Philips warm, well-balanced sound was greatly appreciated amongst too many steelies.

Their *Haydn* and *Schubert* are mainstays for me. :tiphat:


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## TurnaboutVox

I have quite a few BAT recordings on LP and I updated some by buying the CD when it became available too. I love their (Pressler, Cohen, Greenhouse) performances which are always reliable if not always cutting edge, but my ageing (and failing) ears are finding some of the older recordings quite hard work now, so when buying piano trios new to me I have largely been going for newer recordings by Domus, Trio Parnassus, Trio Wanderer etc.


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## GKC

The Beaux Arts are a great trio, but they often strike me as a bit cold for some reason. Since I love piano trios, I have tried to like them, to no avail. I have the same reaction to the Emerson quartet.


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## Steatopygous

GKC said:


> The Beaux Arts are a great trio, but they often strike me as a bit cold for some reason. Since I love piano trios, I have tried to like them, to no avail. I have the same reaction to the Emerson quartet.


By cold do you mean lacking emotion? Musically precise? Mechanical? It's not a term I would have thought of in connection wit the Beaux Arts, so that is interesting....


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## GreatFugue

Very interested in getting this one! It'll be my luck that it will be unavailable when I get around to ordering it, LOL. Their 2-CD Dvořák piano trios is one of my "desert island" picks. Wonderful musicians, love 'em.


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## scratchgolf

Steatopygous said:


> By cold do you mean lacking emotion? Musically precise? Mechanical? It's not a term I would have thought of in connection wit the Beaux Arts, so that is interesting....


Perhaps in the same way people find Brendel's Beethoven and Schubert cold? I love Brendel and BAT but I also prefer clarity and consistency. Beaux never strayed too far from center and that's just fine with me.


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## Vaneyes

scratchgolf said:


> Perhaps in the same way people find Brendel's Beethoven and Schubert cold? I love Brendel and BAT but I also prefer clarity and consistency. *Beaux never strayed too far from center and that's just fine with me.*


BAT's Haydn and Schubert seem adventurous to me, but yours is a fair assessment for the most part, as with I Musici on the same label. Centralization, often described as "musical". Perahia, Mackerras, others.

In some piano trios (don't know what percentage), I like straying. Of recents, I find Swiss Piano Trio's edgy Mendelssohn most captivating. But each to his own. :tiphat:


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## Triplets

Steatopygous said:


> The Beaux Arts Trio complete Philips recordings has lobbed in my mailbox, and what an amazing collection. The group was founded in 1955 and ended in 2008, with some personnel changes along the way. Get this 60-CD set and you get virtually the classical repertoire for piano trio, with earlier and later accounts of the major works (Beethoven, Schubert etc).
> The founding first violinist, Daniel Guilet, was a friend of Ravel, and toured with him in France. Exciting to have him in two accounts of the Ravel trio (1956 and 1966) and another with the main trio (Pressler, Cohen, Greenhouse) who were the trio for most of its existence.
> What a pianist Pressler was! Warmly recommend this set. It's also designed to take up minimum room on the shelf, which I appreciate. If anyone doesn't already have most of the repertoire you couldn't do better than this. Of course the BAT would not be first choice in every work or even most,but they are a consummate trio, and it is good to have their unity of vision across the 60 CDs.


Pressure is still amazing, concerti zing and recording in his 90s.


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## GKC

Steatopygous said:


> By cold do you mean lacking emotion? Musically precise? Mechanical? It's not a term I would have thought of in connection wit the Beaux Arts, so that is interesting....


Business-like. Dynamic, impressive playing and intonation, but lacking in warmth and emotion. But all this may be in relation to other trios I like (Fontenay, Storioni, Borodin, Haydn trio Wien to name four). Clearly my view is in the minority!


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## Steatopygous

Vaneyes said:


> BAT's Haydn and Schubert seem adventurous to me, but yours is a fair assessment for the most part, as with I Musici on the same label. Centralization, often described as "musical". Perahia, Mackerras, others.
> 
> In some piano trios (don't know what percentage), I like straying. Of recents, I find Swiss Piano Trio's edgy Mendelssohn most captivating. But each to his own. :tiphat:


Yes. On the one hand all this is utterly subjective; on the other hand, the fact that we can come to a measure of agreement shows that there are objective aspects. 
I love the BAT Haydn in particular. I find their recordings of nearly all composers intelligent and musical and reasonably idiomatic. I don't like interpretations that I think are affected or mannered, and the BAT are never guilty of that, but I understand that people - including me - often enjoy more emotional interpretations or ones that highlight unexpected elements (think Glenn Gould in piano). Yet, in chamber music especially, it is the unmannered accounts that I keep returning to.


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## Steatopygous

GKC said:


> Business-like. Dynamic, impressive playing and intonation, but lacking in warmth and emotion. But all this may be in relation to other trios I like (Fontenay, Storioni, Borodin, Haydn trio Wien to name four). Clearly my view is in the minority!


Fair enough. In my post above, I observe that I like it "straighter" in chamber music. I think the warmth and emotion are in the music when it comes to Haydn and Schubert's piano trios. No need for extra attack on the strings, or portamenti, or excessive rubato, or whatever it may be that makes the music more emotional. With Rachmaninov, I like that more. But it's all personal, of course.


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## Scififan

Steatopygous said:


> Their Haydn, light, graceful yet involved, is certainly my favourite too.


Yes, their recordings of the Haydn Trios are very beautiful.


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## scratchgolf

Speaking of beauty, the word "definitive" comes to mind here.


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## HaydnBearstheClock

GKC said:


> Business-like. Dynamic, impressive playing and intonation, but lacking in warmth and emotion. But all this may be in relation to other trios I like (Fontenay, Storioni, Borodin, Haydn trio Wien to name four). Clearly my view is in the minority!


Listening to Beethoven played by the Haydn-Trio Wien - an excellent ensemble, agreed .


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## Charlie Mac

I've heard there are some dodgy booklets in circulation - is this the case with yours? Pages missing etc.

Still, yet another fairly pricey box set to add to the wishlist. Oh well. Their Haydn Hob XV:25 is the best I've heard.

Classical music is a joyfully expensive pastime, isn't it!


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## Steatopygous

No, my booklet is fine. 
Expensive? I like your adverb.  It could be worse - you could own a yacht. Or have children in private schools (public schools if you are in the UK). I have neither.


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## Charlie Mac

Steatopygous said:


> No, my booklet is fine.
> Expensive? I like your adverb.  It could be worse - you could own a yacht. Or have children in private schools (public schools if you are in the UK). I have neither.


Every time I switch on CD Review on Radio 3 or browse the Presto Classical website I seem to find yet another £50 plus box set that I fancy. Yesterday, the Perlman Warner box set entered my consciousness. Alas, it's £132 on Amazon, so it won't be mine anytime soon.

You're right, there are far more expensive things out there but, for low income folk, such as myself, it's near impossible to obtain these box sets. I think I've bought just one out of the dozen or more I actually want in the past year or two.

Glad to hear that your booklet is error-free!


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## Johnnie Burgess

They were very good.:tiphat:


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