Presto Recording of the Week
22nd September 2023

Gramophone Awards Issue 2023
Editor's Choice

Veronika Jarůšková (violin), Peter Jarůšek (cello), Boris Giltburg (piano)

Dvořák: Piano Trio No. 1 in B flat major, Op. 21 (B51)
Dvořák: Piano Trio No. 2 in G minor, Op. 26 (B56)
Dvořák: Piano Trio No. 3 in F minor, Op. 65 (B130)
Dvořák: Piano Trio No. 4 in E minor, Op. 90 (B166) 'Dumky'

Piano Trio No. 4, "Dumky", ranking among Antonin Dvorak's most celebrated works, is one of the most frequently recorded chamber pieces there is. After attending a performance, with the composer on the piano, Leos Janacek summed up his impressions succinctly: "A new source of light has flashed." When it comes to Piano Trio No. 3, the renowned Vienna based critic Eduard Hanslick called it a gem, demonstrating that Dvorak was "one of the best modern masters". Piano Trios No. 1 and 2, however, have been scarcely performed. In this light, the complete recording of Dvorak's piano trios is a project richly deserving attention. All the more so due to the artists who have made it: Boris Giltburg, winner of the Queen Elisabeth Competition and one of the world's most distinguished contemporary pianists, alongside Veronika Jaruskova and Peter Jarusek, members of the globally celebrated Pavel Haas Quartet, who have earned great recognition for performing Dvorak's music -Gramophone Recording of the Year (quartets) and Gramophone Chamber Award (quintets,together with Giltburg). The three musicians featured on the album manifest an incredible chime. Possessing the uttermost technical brilliance, they breathe as one. The album was made at the studios in the picturesque Wye Valley, straddling the border between England and Wales, under the supervision of the legendary producer Andrew Keener while London was celebrating the coronation of Charles III. Exceptional moments for Dvorak's exceptional music ...

"These are musicians who seem to instinctively get each other, trading musical ideas with the easy spontaneity of three friends who are so in sync that they finish one another’s sentences. As on their earlier recording of the Piano Quintet, there are moments when the collective sound is so massive that it hardly seems credible that so few musicians are involved, and the more introspective stretches are also beautifully done." - Katherine Cooper, Presto Music, 22nd September 2023.