The Zurich String Trio - Beethoven: Complete String Trios (2005)

In the Beethoven chamber music sweepstakes, the String Trios usually come in next to last. First, of course, are the string quartets. Then come the violin and cello sonatas and the piano trios. Then come the horn sonata and the string quintet and the wind quintet, the clarinet trio, and the octet. And, finally, just before the Duet for Two Obbligato Eyeglasses come the string trios. The pre-eminent reason for their neglect is their relative youth. All five of the trios are from Beethoven's early years in Vienna, when he was a carefree, cheerful, and ambitious composer eager to make his mark in post-Mozart Vienna. The six-movement Op. 3 trio is clearly modeled on Mozart's String Trio Divertimento and the seven-movement Op. 8 trio is entitled a Serenade. The three Op. 9 trios are four movement works with more weight and depth but, still, they are youthful works and the music, though more passionate and impetuous, is still less intense and concentrated. Nevertheless, as the Zurich Trio demonstrates in these 2002 recordings, youthful Beethoven is still great Beethoven. The Op. 3 and 8 trios are light and lively in the marches, dances, and Allegros, but touching, even occasionally affecting in their Andantes and Adagios. The Op. 9 trios are even better: strongly argued, powerfully rhythmic, and, in the Adagio con espressione of the C minor Trio, deeply moving. Brilliant's sound is close and full but a bit hard.