The Florestan Trio - Franz Schubert: Piano Trio in B flat; Notturno; Piano Trio Movement (2001)

This profound, yet still often light-hearted, E flat Trio was written in the same month (November 1827) that Schubert completed Winterreise. We are instantly reminded of this in the Florestan’s eloquent and aptly paced account of the C minor Andante con moto, with what Richard Wigmore describes as its ‘stoical trudging gait’. Its essential melancholy is gently caught, first by the cellist, Richard Lester, and then equally touchingly by the pianist, Susan Tomes. The dramatically rhythmic opening of the first movement could almost be by Beethoven but once again these players show themselves to be completely within the Schubertian sensibility and catch perfectly the atmosphere of the more important lyrical motif, first heard on the cello (in bars 15 and 16), which is to dominate the movement alongside the engaging repeated-note figure (so delicately articulated by the piano).

They set a winningly jaunty mood for the finale, which is maintained whenever the main theme reappears, even though, as always with late Schubert, much happens to vary the music’s mood and atmosphere. Another superb performance then from the Florestans, penetrating, yet full of spirited spontaneity, and in spite of the moments of sadness, much Schubertian bonhomie. The recording is completely lifelike and very well balanced.

Review by Gramophone

Since 1926 when Casals, Thibaudet, and Cortot recorded their glorious rendering of the Schubert B-flat Piano Trio D. 898, the world seemingly has been flush with first-rate performances of this delightful work, including the legendary Feuermann/Heifetz/Rubinstein disc (RCA), the oft-cited reference standard by the Beaux Arts Trio (Philips), and more recent settings by Trio Fontenay (Teldec). Making the selection process that much more difficult is this new disc from the estimable Florestan Trio, which already has assembled an impressive portfolio of works by Brahms, Schumann, Ravel, Fauré, and Dvorák, all on Hyperion.

This young trio, formed in 1995, plays with elegance that is simply beguiling, and a fair amount of this effect is due to Tony Faulkner’s superb engineering. Of special note is the liquid timbre of Susan Tomes’ piano, whose dynamic gradation and “touch” is captured with astonishing purity. From the outset, you hear the “veteran” ensemble and communication between these players: just listen how violinist Anthony Marwood and cellist Richard Lester play off each other in their triplet exchange 30 seconds into the first movement. In the second movement Andante, the opening cello solo is sublime, sweet, and understated, followed by violin in matching character. The Scherzo is playful and light but not exaggerated and the Rondo brims with rhythmic gusto. The traditional couplings–the Notturno in E-flat and the Piano Trio movement in B-flat–are similarly well-executed, but are hardly the draw for this disc.

Overall tempos and rubatos are well-judged and broad (especially on extended “bridge” passages in the cello and violin). But the real magic contained in this disc is the trio’s idiomatic feel for Schubert: the phrasing breathes naturally and elastically, the players hold back just the right amount, dynamic contrasts are breathtakingly subtle but never overwrought. Perhaps the only criticism of this terrific entry into the Schubert pantheon is that it doesn’t include the E-flat trio, thus making it a slightly more expensive choice in the face of excellent mid-priced two-disc sets from the Beaux Arts and Trio Fontenay.

Review by ClassicsToday

X Lossless Decoder version 20090320 (105.1)

XLD extraction logfile from 2009-08-10 07:40:19 +1000

The Florestan Trio / CDA67273 - Schubert - Piano Trio D898 (The Florestan Trio - HYPERION)

Used drive : MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-875 (revision DB09)

Use cdparanoia mode : YES (CDParanoia III 10.2 engine)
Disable audio cache : OK for the drive with cache less than 2750KB
Make use of C2 pointers : NO
Read offset correction : 102
Max retry count : 100

TOC of the extracted CD
Track | Start | Length | Start sector | End sector
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––-
1 | 00:00:00 | 15:00:17 | 0 | 67516
2 | 15:00:17 | 09:27:19 | 67517 | 110060
3 | 24:27:36 | 06:34:55 | 110061 | 139665
4 | 31:02:16 | 09:04:20 | 139666 | 180485
5 | 40:06:36 | 08:38:27 | 180486 | 219362
6 | 48:44:63 | 10:29:22 | 219363 | 266559

List of alternate offset correction values
# | Absolute | Relative | Confidence
–––––––––––––––––––––
1 | 802 | 700 | 3
2 | 138 | 36 | 2

All Tracks
Filename : /Volumes/Orpheus/Uploads/CDA67273 - Schubert - Piano Trio D898 (The Florestan Trio - HYPERION)/CD/CDA67273 - Schubert - Piano Trio D898 (The Florestan Trio - HYPERION).flac
CRC32 hash (test run) : CD5EA57B
CRC32 hash : CD5EA57B
CRC32 hash (skip zero) : 6F0CB42C
Statistics
Read error : 0
Skipped (treated as error) : 0
Edge jitter error (maybe fixed) : 0
Atom jitter error (maybe fixed) : 0
Drift error (maybe fixed) : 0
Dropped bytes error (maybe fixed) : 0
Duplicated bytes error (maybe fixed) : 0
Inconsistency in error sectors : 0

Track 01
CRC32 hash (test run) : 7607ECBF
CRC32 hash : 7607ECBF
CRC32 hash (skip zero) : F341C935
AccurateRip signature : 1090D854
->Rip may not be accurate.
Statistics
Read error : 0
Skipped (treated as error) : 0
Edge jitter error (maybe fixed) : 0
Atom jitter error (maybe fixed) : 0
Drift error (maybe fixed) : 0
Dropped bytes error (maybe fixed) : 0
Duplicated bytes error (maybe fixed) : 0
Inconsistency in error sectors : 0

Track 02
CRC32 hash (test run) : E01092F5
CRC32 hash : E01092F5
CRC32 hash (skip zero) : E585A91B
AccurateRip signature : A4F1E872
->Accurately ripped! (confidence 3)
(matched with the different offset correction value;
calculated using an additional offset of 700;
the signature after correction is: 6E4C43FA)
Statistics
Read error : 0
Skipped (treated as error) : 0
Edge jitter error (maybe fixed) : 0
Atom jitter error (maybe fixed) : 0
Drift error (maybe fixed) : 0
Dropped bytes error (maybe fixed) : 0
Duplicated bytes error (maybe fixed) : 0
Inconsistency in error sectors : 0

Track 03
CRC32 hash (test run) : B9A989A2
CRC32 hash : B9A989A2
CRC32 hash (skip zero) : 4A1F151C
AccurateRip signature : 92BA788D
->Accurately ripped! (confidence 3)
(matched with the different offset correction value;
calculated using an additional offset of 700;
the signature after correction is: 5869C2BD)
Statistics
Read error : 0
Skipped (treated as error) : 0
Edge jitter error (maybe fixed) : 0
Atom jitter error (maybe fixed) : 0
Drift error (maybe fixed) : 0
Dropped bytes error (maybe fixed) : 0
Duplicated bytes error (maybe fixed) : 0
Inconsistency in error sectors : 0

Track 04
CRC32 hash (test run) : A2949B04
CRC32 hash : A2949B04
CRC32 hash (skip zero) : F47C6C40
AccurateRip signature : 4B5FB0E5
->Accurately ripped! (confidence 3)
(matched with the different offset correction value;
calculated using an additional offset of 700;
the signature after correction is: 01CF6D8C)
Statistics
Read error : 0
Skipped (treated as error) : 0
Edge jitter error (maybe fixed) : 0
Atom jitter error (maybe fixed) : 0
Drift error (maybe fixed) : 0
Dropped bytes error (maybe fixed) : 0
Duplicated bytes error (maybe fixed) : 0
Inconsistency in error sectors : 0

Track 05
CRC32 hash (test run) : 1C73E8B6
CRC32 hash : 1C73E8B6
CRC32 hash (skip zero) : 2495B376
AccurateRip signature : 3AFFC50F
->Accurately ripped! (confidence 3)
(matched with the different offset correction value;
calculated using an additional offset of 700;
the signature after correction is: 9380DAB6)
Statistics
Read error : 0
Skipped (treated as error) : 0
Edge jitter error (maybe fixed) : 0
Atom jitter error (maybe fixed) : 0
Drift error (maybe fixed) : 0
Dropped bytes error (maybe fixed) : 0
Duplicated bytes error (maybe fixed) : 0
Inconsistency in error sectors : 0

Track 06
CRC32 hash (test run) : 7196482B
CRC32 hash : 7196482B
CRC32 hash (skip zero) : BAAB38E4
AccurateRip signature : 3AC39086
->Rip may not be accurate.
Statistics
Read error : 0
Skipped (treated as error) : 0
Edge jitter error (maybe fixed) : 0
Atom jitter error (maybe fixed) : 0
Drift error (maybe fixed) : 0
Dropped bytes error (maybe fixed) : 0
Duplicated bytes error (maybe fixed) : 0
Inconsistency in error sectors : 0

No errors occurred

End of status report

foobar2000 1.2 / Dynamic Range Meter 1.1.1
log date: 2016-11-05 18:25:04

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Analyzed: The Florestan Trio / CDA67273 - Schubert - Piano Trio D898 (The Florestan Trio - HYPERION)
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

DR Peak RMS Duration Track
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
DR14 -0.40 dB -20.41 dB 15:00 01-Piano Trio in B Flat Major D898 - Allegro moderato
DR16 -4.84 dB -26.60 dB 9:27 02-Piano Trio in B Flat Major D898 - Andante un poco mosso
DR16 -0.84 dB -22.06 dB 6:35 03-Piano Trio in B Flat Major D898 - Scherzo- Allegro
DR15 -1.01 dB -22.33 dB 9:04 04-Piano Trio in B Flat Major D898 - Rondo- Allegro vivace (Presto)
DR14 -1.51 dB -21.77 dB 8:38 05-Notturno in E Flat Major D897 - Adagio
DR16 -0.83 dB -23.15 dB 10:29 06-Piano Trio Movement in B Flat Major D28 - Allegro
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Number of tracks: 6
Official DR value: DR15

Samplerate: 44100 Hz
Channels: 2
Bits per sample: 16
Bitrate: 582 kbps
Codec: FLAC
================================================================================