Aug. 30: Violinist Joshua Bell Reunites with Cellist Steven Isserlis and Pianist Jeremy Denk in New Sony Classical Recording of Felix Mendelssohn’s Piano Trios
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Violinist Joshua Bell Reunites with Cellist Steven Isserlis and Pianist Jeremy Denk
in a New Sony Classical Recording of Felix Mendelssohn’s Piano Trios
Piano Trio No. 1 In D Minor, Op. 49: II. Andante Con Moto Tranquillo
Out Now - Listen Here
Album Release Date:
(Digital) August 30, 2024
(CD) October 25, 2024
Presave and Pre-Order Here
Violinist Joshua Bell reunites with two of his favorite collaborating artists and friends – cellist Steven Isserlis and pianist Jeremy Denk – for Sony Classical’s new recording of the piano trios of Felix Mendelssohn, to be released digitally on August 30 and on CD on October 25 – presave and pre-order here. Accompanying today’s news is the release of the first track from the forthcoming recording - Piano Trio No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 49: II. Andante con moto tranquillo – listen here.
The new recording follows a unique all-Brahms collection For the Love of Brahms – released by Sony Classical in 2018 – that was also a collaboration of Bell, Isserlis and Denk.
Of the new Mendelssohn Piano Trio recording, Joshua Bell notes: “Steven Isserlis and Jeremy Denk have been my most cherished chamber music partners for decades. They bring seemingly limitless imaginations and uncanny musical intelligence to every work I have had the privilege of exploring with them. It is my hope that our mutual joy for playing chamber music and, in particular, our shared deep love for the genius of Felix Mendelssohn comes through in this recording of these Piano Trios. I am forever grateful for having the opportunity to make this album.”
The two Mendelssohn trios – No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 49 (1839) and No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 66 (1845) – are regarded as being among the composer’s masterpieces.
In his liner notes for the new recording, Isserlis quotes Robert Schumann’s belief – written shortly after the premiere of his friend’s Piano Trio No. 1 – that “Mendelssohn… has soared so high, that we may venture to say that he is the Mozart of the nineteenth century, the brightest among musicians, the one who looks most clearly of all through the contradictions of the time and reconciles us to them.”
Interestingly, the writing of the first trio tested even Mendelssohn’s genius, as the second would, as well.
With that in mind, listeners to this recording will find a revelatory bonus track – the original version of the song-like second movement (Andante con moto tranquillo) of Piano Trio No. 1.
"Of course, Mendelssohn had excellent reasons for his revisions,” Isserlis writes in the liner notes, “including the addition of the deeply expressive middle section; but there are a few touches in the original version which have a delightful freshness to them – which is why we decided to include it as an extra track on this disc. (Here I would like to offer thanks to the Israeli pianist Ron Regev, whose fascinating article about the two versions, and painstaking transcription of the original, made this possible.)"
Such insight is among the reasons Joshua Bell has enjoyed creative partnerships with Isserlis and Denk for much of his career, in concert and on recordings, as both a performing partner and as the music director of London’s Academy of St Martin in the Fields. Their collaboration has a lively history.
As Denk told Strings Magazine, after the Brahms recording was complete, “Steven loves to argue – but it’s in good humor – and is more obsessed with structure, Josh with the flow of the narrative. I love both structure and narrative and might be in the middle, moderating from this black monster with its keys. We know each other’s foibles and tendencies and have all chosen to play with each other over a long period of time.”
About Joshua Bell: With a career spanning almost four decades, GRAMMY® Award-winning violinist Joshua Bell is one of the most celebrated artists of his era. Bell has performed with virtually every major orchestra in the world and continues to maintain engagements as soloist, recitalist, chamber musician, conductor, and Music Director of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields.
Sony Music Masterworks comprises Masterworks, Sony Classical, Milan Records, XXIM Records, and Masterworks Broadway imprints. For email updates and information please visit www.sonymusicmasterworks.com.
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