Busch Trio

Busch Trio – Ravel & Shostakovich: Piano Trios (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 51:49 minutes | 1,71 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Alpha Classics

Ravel composed his Piano Trio M67 j ust before enlisting voluntarily in the First World War. Inspired by the Basque country and its zortziko dance, the Trio ends with a sombre, almost anguished fourth movement. A mood inspired by the impending war? In his Piano Trio No.2 , op.67 , Shostakovich too is affected by the horrors of war and the death of a close friend. For the first time in the Russian composer’s output, we hear a Jewish theme, a danse macabre echoing the terrible events of the time. Another point in common between the two works is that both include a passacaglia. For the Busch Trio, it was self-evident that these two heart-rending works should be brought together on the same album.

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Busch Trio – Schubert: Trio Opus 100, Sonatensatz & Notturno (2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:05:45 minutes | 1,09 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Alpha Classics

After its recording of Dvořák’s complete chamber music with piano, the Busch Trio now tackles three works by Franz Schubert, including his famous Piano Trio No. 2. While the dying composer dedicated this masterpiece ‘to nobody, save those who find pleasure in it’, as if urging them to enjoy the life that was gradually ebbing away from him, his Notturno, D. 897 expresses an anguish and a sense of tragedy that makes it one of the most eloquent examples of Romantic lyricism.
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Busch Trio – Dvořák: Piano Trios, Op. 65 & 90 “Dumky” (2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:16:38 minutes | 1,29 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Alpha Classics

This young trio that takes its name from the legendary violinist Adolf Busch (1891-1952) has already made its name on the international scene as one of the most talented of the new generation, picking up on its travels enthusiastic reactions from public and press – as well as several prizes at the major competitions. ‘ . . . what impressed most was the group’s effortless musicianship and unity of thought and attack. The threesome even seemed to be breathing in synch’, wrote The Times after one of their concerts at the Wigmore Hall.

Under the auspices of Alpha Classics and the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel, the ensemble has set itself a challenge: to record the complete chamber music with piano of Antonín Dvořák. With the monumental Trios no.3 op.65 and no.4 op.90, these Londonbased musicians get the saga off to a flying start, in deeply felt interpretations that penetrate to the heart of the great Czech composer’s poetic universe.
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Busch Trio – Dvořák: Piano Trios Op. 21 & 26 (2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:06:47 minutes | 1,12 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Alpha Classics

After two earlier Dvořák releases, the Trios nos.3 and 4 (Dumky) and the two Piano Quartets, Omri Epstein, Mathieu van Bellen and Ori Epstein are joined by one of their teachers at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel, the violist Miguel da Silva (founder member of the famous Quatuor Ysaÿe) and the violinist Maria Milstein, who was also an artist in residence at the Music Chapel from 2011 to 2014. Together they continue this recording of the Czech composer’s complete chamber music with keyboard, this time in the two Piano Quintets and the Bagatelles. There is an obvious close rapport between these musicians, who share with us their passion for this repertory and their enjoyment of playing together. A gap of fifteen years separates Dvořák’s two Piano Quintets, which have few features in common except a shared home key: the First marks the debut of a youthful composer, while the Second shows him at the peak of his art. The Bagatelles, originally scored for two violins, cello and harmonium, are among his bestknown short pieces. A recording scheduled for release in autumn 2018 will complete this quadriptych of Dvořák’s piano trios, quartets and quintets.
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