There is an abundance of recordings of
Schubert
's two piano trios and of most of the other chamber pieces on this double album; one of them is even by the trio of players heard here, violinist
Christian Tetzlaff
, cellist
Tanja Tetzlaff
, and pianist
Lars Vogt
, but this one was made in the last year and a half of
Vogt
's life. He had not yet been diagnosed with the cancer that killed him in 2022, but he spoke of this as potentially one of his last recordings.
seemed to be rushing to record as much as he could before his death, sometimes disregarding the advice of his doctors, and several of his last releases were very strong. This one is extraordinary. The brother-sister team of
Christian
and
are formidable chamber players, but here, they apply their skills to staying out of
's way; he seems to direct the performances. They land somewhere between ecstatic and tragic. Sample the slow movement of the
Piano Trio in E flat major, D. 929
, which is something of a funeral march to begin with.
's melody shines with transcendence. His lines in the
Piano Trio in B flat major, D. 898
, are soaring, shaped into a kind of momentum perhaps never before heard in this well-worn piece. There are several shorter pieces that are beautifully done, including a take on the comparatively rarer
Arpeggione Sonata in A minor, D. 821
, from
. The main attraction is the pair of piano trios, and it is a bit sobering to ponder whether one must be staring death in the face to play like this. ~ James Manheim