Trio Parnassus - Scharwenka: Piano Trios Op. 110 & 112, Cello Sonata,Op. 116 (1995)

Until fairly recently the only Scharwenka I was familiar with was Xaver, whose piano concertos and chamber music (available from Hyperion) had justly garnered many positive reviews in the musical press; however, getting to know the music of his brother Philipp over the past couple of months has been a real pleasure and this disc of chamber music with piano has reinforced the strong impression his music has made on me.

When one thinks about Austro-German music in the period between the death of Brahms and the commencement of the First World War, chamber music is perhaps not the genre that first comes to mind; certainly, in terms of masterpieces that have come down to us and remain in the performing and recording repertoire, Mahler's symphonies and the orchestral and operatic music of Richard Strauss are probably the works that define the Late Romantic era for many listeners (though some may also have an ear directed toward the innovations of Schoenberg et al.). Germany and Austria nonetheless had a vibrant music scene and a middle class that was both educated and affluent, providing a receptive audience for a wider range of works than present day music-making would suggest. This fine disc provides an excellent and rewarding example of what audiences in that period could expect to find on programmes.

Scharwenka's later years saw a remarkable profusion of chamber works from his pen, of which these three works are examples. If conservative in expression besides the music of his more famous contemporaries, they are neither lacking in craftsmanship or sophistication. Only one of the pieces recorded here is conventional in its structural outlines (the G major trio, with its three movement design of `Allegro moderato - Andante tranquillo - Allegro con spirito'). The earlier trio, in C-sharp minor, for example, moves from an extended `Lento tranquillo' opening movement, via a scherzo-like `Allegro', to a broadly sonata-form `Allegro appassionato' finale - yet even here, Scharwenka defies expectations with his tonal relationships (as, indeed, he does in the `Allegro moderato' of the G major trio). The Cello Sonata is even more unusual in its one-movement design, which encompasses a wide emotional range that is all the more striking for its modest scale (it is 14 minutes in duration); his effective cyclical use of his material ensures that there is no sense of diffuseness, though, and the return of the opening material to crown the work's ultimate coda seems as inevitable as it is moving.

Such skill might not count for much were his music not so emotionally engaging and, happily, as his earlier orchestral works had already shown, he is a notable and consistent melodist too. Slow movements are warm hearted and the delightfully vigorous `Allegro' of the C-sharp minor trio provides evidence of a ready wit. All three works display imagination as well as sound judgement in their scoring, with the disposition of the instruments in the trios being well-balanced; the writing for cello and piano in the `Lento tranquillo' of the C-sharp minor trio struck me as particularly haunting at times, a masterly example of what can be achieved by relatively simple means when a master craftsman is at work.

According to the liner notes, musicologist Hugo Leichtentritt stated that "the chamber works of [Scharwenka's] last twenty years... belong to the formally most perfect and tonally most beautiful works of their genre". High praise indeed, but on the evidence of this recording and its companion - Scharwenka - Chamber Works - I am not inclined to disagree. Add to the mix, superbly sympathetic performances from Trio Parnassus and excellent sound quality from MDG and you have a winner of a disc.

Warmly recommended.