GREAT RECORDINGS phase 3

BEETHOVEN: PIANO TRIO in B flat, Op.97 'Archduke'
SCHUBERT: PIANO TRIO NO.1 in B flat, D.898
Alfred Cortot, Jacques Thibaud & Pablo Casals

{CDM 5 66986 2 UK}
{7243 5 66986 2 (Europe}
{Angel 5 67001 2}

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Award: Diapason d'Or, France

"Treasurable performances and one rejoices in their reissue..." Gramophone

This recording of Schubert's B flat Trio was one of the earliest great classics of the recorded chamber music repertoire, and has been treasured ever since it was made in 1926, almost exactly 100 years after the work's composition.

The legendary players - Cortot, Thibaud & Casals - were all established solo artists and their trio (a 25-year collaboration) was never seen as a permanent chamber music ensemble. They played together for only a few weeks a year, yet they were able to fuse their individual musical characters into a hugely satisfying unit.

The powerful results are heard here, not only in the Schubert but also in Beethoven's ripely mature 'Archduke' trio (so-named because the piano part was written for Beethoven's pupil, the Archduke Rudolf).

The recordings have been newly remastered at Abbey Road Studios for this reissue. In the booklet, the English essay by Lionel Salter appears also in German, French and Spanish translation.