This specially-priced double hybrid SACD set features the multi award-winning Van Baerle Trio performing music by Felix Mendelssohn. Included here are the two piano trios, opus 49 and 66, as well as the world-premiere recording of the version of the Piano Trio No 1 written down by the composer in an original manuscript from 1839.
Mendelssohn’s piano trios are among the most popular and frequently played works within the genre. Both trios are such recognised works and display such perfection form and content that one might well imagine that they flowed effortlessly from the composer's pen without a moment's doubt or hesitation. In fact during the course of recording the two Mendelssohn trios the Van Baerle’s had the opportunity to examine copies of the manuscripts of both works, and were astonished to discover that the manuscript of the first trio displayed considerable differences from the work that we were familiar with as the celebrated Trio in D minor. Further investigation revealed that this was an early version of the same trio, completed in July 1839, nine months before the first edition of the definitive version, and was not just a rough sketch but a complete work. Although it was largely the same piece we are familiar with, there were some wonderful passages that have been rarely heard since they were first written.
The Van Baerle Trio was founded in 2004 and since then has won many prizes including the Vriendenkrans Competition, ARD International Music Competition, and Lyon International Chamber Music Competition. The group’s debut recording, which was released in 2012 on the Etcetera label and featured music by Saint-Saens, Ravel, and Loevendie, was the recipient of an Edison Award, one of the most highly-regarded prizes in Holland for recorded music.