Musical Remembrances, the new album from Chandos Records features the Neave Trio – its members Anna Williams, violin; Mikhail Veselov, cello, and Eri Nakamura, piano – in music evocative of memories, hence its intriguing title.

Recorded in September of 2021 in Suffolk, England and lovingly produced by Jonathan Cooper, the recording includes Rachmaninoff’s Trio élégiaque No. 1; Brahms’ Piano Trio No. 1, Op. 8; and Ravel’s Piano Trio in A minor, Op. 67 – all three compositions inspired by remembrances.

Rachmaninoff’s early first piano trio was inspired by Tchaikovsky’s Piano Trio in A minor, Brahms’s first trio was inspired by the composer’s arguably romantic feelings for Clara Schumann, while Ravel’s only piano trio was inspired by the composer’s feelings as France was dragged into the Great War. The work is infused with elements from the Basque musical culture of Ravel’s mother’s upbringing.

For the Neave Trio, the concept of remembrance was very personal:

“As COVID affected us on both professional and personal levels, we also found ourselves living with these three works – works we had collectively felt to be ‘larger than life’ when first approached.”

Musical Remembrancesis the Neave Trio’s fourth album for Chandos Records. The Neave Trio has emerged as one of the finest chamber music ensembles of its young generation. In the past the trio has explored a broad repertoire ranging from the music of Louise Farrenc, Amy Beach, Rebecca Clark, Debussy, Fauré, Korngold, Foote, and Bernstein to the works of contemporary composers Robert Sirota, Amanuel Zarzowski, Augusta Read Thomas, and Astor Piazzolla.

The music making of violinist Anna Williams, cellist Mikhail Veselov, and pianist Eri Nakamura is sterling. Consonant, precise, incisive, heartfelt, stylistically beyond reproach, their take on the exoticism of Ravel, the romanticism of Rachmaninoff, and the emotive nobility of Brahms is peerless. Throughout of well over an hour of exemplarily superb playing, the Neave Trio makes a memorable impression in its exploration of the nature of memory in Musical Remembrances.

For more information, visit www.neavetrio.com.  

Rafael de Acha © 2022