Anton Arensky: Piano Trio No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 32 (1894)
Sergey Taneyev: Piano Trio in D Major, Op. 22 (1906)

Up until my attention was drawn to this release by The Brahms Trio of Volume 4 in their ongoing 15-Disc recording project chronicling the History of the Russian Piano Trio, the previous three volumes had completely flown under my radar and gone unnoticed. Something I plan to rectify in the near future, because if this fourth volume is any indication, this might prove to be an engrossing overview of Russian chamber music, spanning the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, many of which will be world premiere recordings.

A student of Rimsky-Korsakov, Anton Arensky (1861-1906) inherited his teacher's characteristics and was earmarked to carry on the nationalistic banner but, was so influenced by the strong current of Austro-German-French music spilling everywhere near the end of the 19th century, that his magnificent Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor sounds more like Brahms or Saint-Saëns than it does Tchaikovsky for example. Nonetheless it is a highly original and strongly passionate example of chamber music from that era. Its trio structure is exemplary as it takes full advantage of all three instruments, something particularly apparent in the beautiful Elegia movement. Its main protagonist is the cello, played with a high degree of expression here by cellist Kirill Rodin. If you believed Rachmaninov to be the king of evocative and melancholic melodies, this passionate key movement alone may very well sway your opinion.

Pianist and composer Sergey Taneyev (1856-1915), studied composition with Tchaikovsky and eventually went on to succeed him as professor at the Moscow Conservatory. His music is slightly more emphatic and harmonically concentrated, but his grasp and control of counterpoint is masterful. He actually wrote a two-volume study on the subject. If the piano, played with assurance and authority by Natalia Rubinstein plays a commanding role in the Arensky, it's the violin that assumes most of the leading role within the Taneyev work, and Nikolai Sachenko's singing tone well projects its melodic outlines.

Ever since its foundation more than 25 years ago, the Brahms Trio has been highly acclaimed for its outstanding artistry, often being called one of Russia's leading chamber music ensembles. Right at the beginning of its career, in 1993, the Brahms Trio won the International Chamber Music Competition in Trapani, Italy, and in 1995 it was awarded the 1st Prize at the Joseph Joachim Chamber Music Competition in Weimar. Russian chamber music is the backbone of the repertoire performed by the Brahms Trio. Recognized as "the leading expert on Russian piano trios" (Music Life Magazine, Russia), the Brahms Trio has performed concert series devoted to Russia's chamber music heritage.