Classical reviews: Bruckner, Beethoven and Chopin

Bruckner Mass in E minor  

Choir of King’s College, Cambridge; Academy of St Martin in the Fields; Henry Websdale and Donal McCann, organ scholars; conducted by Sir Stephen Cleobury 

King’s College Cambridge KGS0035  

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

For 35 years Stephen Cleobury conducted the choir of King’s College, Cambridge, as well as doing long stints leading the BBC Singers and other choral groups. This CD, in which he conducted the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, was his last album, recorded a few months before his death, and it’s a fine tribute. 

Composed in 1869, Bruckner’s Mass in E minor is in many ways an unusual work, requiring a mixed choir, a wind ensemble, and intonings by a priest which suggests that its primary purpose was its use in church. A lot of it is a cappella – unaccompanied – with the voices ringing out in lovely purity; horns and trombones are skilfully interwoven. The other motets on this CD were all written for church use; since many amateur choirs today sing this music, this CD deserves a warm welcome.      

Piano Trios – Beethoven and Chopin 

Beethoven: Trio for Violin, Cello, and Piano in C major, arr Carl Reinecke; Chopin: Piano Trio in G minor Opus 8

Accentus ACC30529

Gidon Kremer, violin; Giedre Dirvanauskaite, cello; Georgijs Osokins, piano 

Accentus ACC30529  

★★ ★ ★ ★

In recent years we’ve not heard much from the Latvian violin virtuoso Gidon Kremer, so it’s good to find him popping up with two musical rarities. Beethoven’s Grand Concerto Concertant was always seen as an uneasy cross between the piano trio and concerto forms, and Carl Reinecke’s orchestra-less reduction for three soloists shifts the balance towards the former. And it’s every bit as majestic as the full-dress work, with Kremer’s long-time companions Giedre Dirvanauskaite and Georgijs Osokins (on cello and piano respectively) playing with lovely poise. 

Meanwhile Chopin’s Opus 8 piano trio – very seldom performed – is a revelation. It’s one of the only two major chamber pieces Chopin wrote, and the piano inevitably sits centre-stage throughout. But it reveals some unusual aspects of his creativity, with the opening Allegro evincing a thoroughly Beethovenian heroism, and the Scherzo’s intricate invention dissolving into the unclouded peace of the Adagio, before the piano lets rip in full-throated concerto mode.