Neave Trio (Anna Williams, violin; Mikhail Veselov, cello; Eri Nakamura, piano).
Camille SAINT-SAËNS: Trio No. 2, Op. 92 in E minor
Mel BONIS: Soir-Matin, Op. 76
Achille-Claude DEBUSSY/arr. Sally Beamish: La Mer (The Sea)
Chandos CHAN20337
Formats: CD, Digital
Release Date: June 20, 2025
Total Duration: 65:05
Giorgio Koukl | 30 JUN 2025
The Neave Trio (violinist Anna Williams, cellist Mikhail Veselov, and pianist Eri Nakamura) has released a new album of interesting French music on the Chandos label. This pluripremiated chamber music group is not new to exploring French composers, and there is a special affinity among these exceptional musicians for this repertoire. Logically, the expectations are quite high, and it can be said right at the beginning that these are fully satisfied.
CHAN20337 (click to enlarge)
The mixture of Saint-Saëns, Mel Bonis, and Claude Debussy is intriguing.
Let us start with the last piece on this album.
Composed between 1903 and 1905, Claude Debussy’s La Mer was premiered on October 15, 1905, in Paris by the Orchestre Lamoureux. Considered one of Debussy’s orchestral masterpieces and a turning point in early 20th-century music, it is often called the peak of impressionistic music, though Debussy himself disliked the term. Inspired by the ocean and Japanese art, especially Hokusai’s famous woodblock print The Great Wave off Kanagawa, which was used on the first edition of the score.
La Mer has three movements: “De l’aube à midi sur la mer” (“From Dawn to Noon on the Sea”), “Jeux de vagues” (“Play of the Waves”), and “Dialogue du vent et de la mer” (“Dialogue of the Wind and the Sea”). It is set for a grand orchestra, and the idea itself of reducing this to a trio seems at first sight an impossible one. But hearing only a few minutes is enough to change the mind. In this arrangement made by the British composer Sally Beamish, nothing seems to disturb: the music flows naturally and is interpreted superbly. It is maybe only the last movement that lacks a little of the dynamic range necessary to render this complicated score.
But let us now move backward to the beginning of this CD.
Camille Saint-Saëns composed his Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor, Op. 92 in 1892, marking a significant contribution to the Romantic chamber music repertoire. The piece premiered on December 7, 1892, at the Salle Érard in Paris, performed by pianist Isidor Philipp (a future teacher of Alexander Tcherepnin), violinist Henri Berthelier, and cellist Jules Loeb.
It has five movements. “Allegro non troppo” (in E minor) opens with a somber theme shared between the violin and cello, underpinned by wide piano chords. The movement develops into a dramatic sonata form, concluding with a bold plagal cadence. “Allegretto” (E major), a dance-like movement in 5/8 time, is reminiscent of a salon piece, interspersed with virtuoso passages, and concludes softly. “Andante con moto” (A♭ major) is a lyrical interlude centered around a descending motif, offering a moment of introspection. “Grazioso, poco allegro” (G major) is a graceful waltz that introduces a cheerful theme after a brief dark introduction, with contrasting trio sections in distant keys. “Allegro” (E minor) begins with a piano theme, evolving into a fugato and culminating in a moto perpetuo coda.
This score presents a real challenge to any trio in terms of interpretative skills and the necessary agogical freedom. Well, it is here that the Neave Trio is fully convincing. It is enough to follow their rubati and perfect ensemble play to place them among the best trios available. A special mention goes to the pianist, Nakamura, surely mastering all the intricacies of which this score is full.
A real discovery is the two shorter pieces by Mel Bonis (née Mélanie Hélène Domange) entitled Soir et Matin, Op. 76, composed in 1907. The piece reflects the influence of French Impressionism, influenced by the styles of Fauré and Debussy.
Listening to this music, one could be intrigued by what else this lady would have written. Well, there are many pieces for piano solo, but unfortunately, none of them reach the somber and intriguing atmosphere of the trio.
Here, once again, all the musicality of the Neave Trio emerges. This score does not have the same top quality as the other pieces in this album, but they manage to play it in a way that does it maximum justice.
All in all, this release can easily and thoroughly be recommended as exceptional. ■
EXTERNAL LINKS:
- Neave Trio: neavetrio.com
Read more by Giorgio Koukl.
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