Album

Never quite achieving the appeal and recognition as his teacher Rimsky-Korsakov, nor his more famous students Rachmaninov and Scriabin, the music of Anton Arensky nevertheless fills an important gap in the succession of Russian musical heritage. In his markedly short lifetime, Arensky penned some 75 compositions ranging from opera to small-scale chamber works. His two piano trios, the first in D minor and the second in F minor, are heard on this Tudor album performed by the Rachmaninov Trio Moscow. Though its intentions to make Arensky's somewhat bland trios as vibrant and interesting as possible are clearly apparent, the execution falls a bit short. Each member of the trio is clearly a master of each instrument, but the three separate entities do not gel exceptionally well into a cohesive ensemble. Most noticeably is the seemingly independent concept of articulation and note duration that each musician has; attacks and releases are not uniform. There are noticeable discrepancies in intonation between the string players with neither one seeming to want to give in to the other's center of pitch. As an introduction to these infrequently performed trios, this album is certainly sufficient, but it does not represent any major accomplishments in chamber music artistry.

© Mike D. Brownell, Rovi

CD 1
Anton Arensky Composer Piano Trio No.1 in D-, Op.32 Work 29:25 Rachmaninov Trio Moscow Ensemble
1	1.Allegro moderato	11:27			$1.99
2	2.Scherzo	6:16			$0.99
3	3.Elegia	6:01			$0.99
4	4.Finale: Allegro non troppo	5:41			$0.99
Anton Arensky Composer Piano Trio No.2 in F-, Op.73 Work 28:46 Rachmaninov Trio Moscow Ensemble
5	1.Allegro moderato	8:11			$1.49
6	2.Romance: Andante	5:27			$0.99
7	3.Scherzo: Presto	6:26			$0.99
8	4.Tema con variazioni	8:42			$1.49