The Trio Karénine were joint winners (with the Van Baerle Trio) of
the 2013 ARD Competition in Munich. They formed as recently as 2009 and
the choice of Schumann for their first disc is a bold one. There’s an
effervescence and litheness that underpins their approach (not for
nothing are they named after Tolstoy’s heroine Anna Karenina, ‘for the
life force she represents’).
The Second Trio suits them particularly well. They capture the
upward-surging opening of the first movement and the thrilling élan of
its close. Yet they don’t underplay the contrasting elements either, for
instance, the confiding theme introduced by the piano at 0'50" (tr 5).
In the second movement they know better than to overindulge Schumann’s
rapturous main theme, though Andsnes’s magically withdrawn accompaniment
for the Tetzlaff siblings is even more rapt. The lolloping
intermezzo-like third movement, with its canonic conversation between
strings and piano, is also very effective, while the finale is a
particularly elated affair, the Karénine palpably delighting in
Schumann’s flow of melodic invention; their lively sense of interplay
and the springiest of accentuation gives even the sparkily multi-hued
account by Faust/Queyras/Melnikov a run for its money.
The turbulent First Trio is also full of good things, though I
marginally prefer the slightly steadier tempo of Tetzlaff/Andsnes in the
gruff Scherzo, giving it a darker hue that then makes the most telling
contrast with the Trio. In the slow movement, it is Faust et al who
delve deepest, the most sparing use of vibrato giving it a desolation
compared to which Trio Karénine are more conventionally beautiful. But
the new group convey the energy of the finale with great immediacy,
combining a sense of freshness with a deep-seated understanding of
Schumann’s world. A most impressive debut. (Harriet Smith / Gramophone)
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