# Beethoven: Complete Piano Trios (Brilliant Classics)



## itywltmt (May 29, 2011)

Our _Cover2Cover_ post this week is another _Brilliant Class_ics share in our series of collections. It is a five-disk set featuring the complete Beethoven piano trios; this set contains also the shorter works for piano trio, arrangements, and the transcription of the Symphony No. 2 for piano trio, by Beethoven himself.

The following notes are from the official promotional page for this set:

The piano trio existed, in other guises, long before Ludwig van Beethoven got his hands on it. But he was the composer who would expand the genre beyond all recognition, using his relentless creativity to exploit the piano trio to its full potential.

Beethoven considered his first three piano trios worthy of his Opus one; after his first two trios in the style of Haydn he pens a third, which foretells - almost ten years in advance - the heroism of the composer's 'middle period'.

The 2 trios Op. 70 form a bridge to late Beethoven, and find an equivalent in the Rasumovsky String Quartets Op. 59. In the 'Archduke' he displayed the sheer symphonic power with which we now associate him.

The young French Trio Elegiaque has already received great critical acclaim for their recording of Messiaen and Dusapin (Diapason d'Or!). They played the Beethoven trio cycle several times in concert series, and their performances bear witness of their insight, enthusiasm and ensemble culture.

*Programming Note: The single-track clip from YouTube will be deployed in five parts (one disc at a time) on our podcasting channel, including a "crossover" montage on a Friday later in November.*

Happy Listening!







*Ludwig van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)*
Works for piano trio (piano, violin and cello)

DISK 1
Piano Trio in G, Op.1, No.2 
Piano Trio in D, Op.70, No.1 ('Ghost') 
Piano Trio in Eb, WoO38

DISK 2
Piano Trio in C-, Op.1, No.3 
Piano Trio in Eb, Op.70, No.2 
Variations on an Original Theme in Eb for Piano Trio, Op.44

DISK 3
Piano Trio in Eb, Op.1, No.1 
Piano Trio in D (transcr. of Symphony No.2, Op.36, by composer)
Allegretto in Eb for Piano Trio, Hess48

DISK 4
Piano Trio in Bb, Op.97 ('Archduke') 
Allegretto in Bb for Piano Trio, WoO39 
Piano Trio in E-Flat Major, Op. 63, After String Quintet, Op. 4

DISK 5
Piano Trio in B-Flat Major, Op. 11 "Gassenhauer"
Variations in G on Müller's Ich bin der Schneider Kakadu, for piano trio, Op.121a 
Piano Trio in Eb, Op.38 'Piano Trio No.8' (Arr. from Septet, Op.20)

Trio Élégiaque
Laurent Le Flécher, violin
Virginie Constant, cello
François Dumont, piano
Brilliant Classics 94327
Recorded in 2012, released in November 2013

Official page - https://www.brilliantclassics.com/articles/b/beethoven-complete-piano-trios/


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