piano trio no. 2 in e-flat major d.929 schubert

The B-flat Piano Trio, today known as the first, opens with a jubilant Allegro moderato. The Kungsbacka… might not posses quite the subtlety of the Florestan, but this is certainly impressive playing, and a bargain at the price.Schubert likely composed his two monumental piano trios one shortly after the other in late 1827 although it remains unclear in which order. This is certainly impressive playing, and a bargain at the price. The Kungsbacka fill out their disc with the early Sonatensatz, D28, a delightful little petitfour to complete the feast, elegantly played. In the hands of the Kungsbacka, there are no longueurs. It’s one of those extraordinary Schubert movements that starts unassumingly and yet stretches out to the horizon, seemingly unstoppable. Unusually, the Kungsbacka choose the composer’s uncut original finale (also offered by the Florestan Trio, as an additional track alongside the shorter version).

The remaining movements are similarly impressive: the Minuet/Scherzo hybrid, a tail-chasing canon, is great fun, the Trio stomping but never coarse. For the second movement, the Kungsbacka choose their trudging tempo carefully, vividly reminding us that this work dates from the same year as Winterreise. What is particularly impressive is their confidence and sweep: more extrovert than the soul-searching Florestan Trio, they relish the outgoing E flat major (surely Schubert was inspired by the fact that for Beethoven this was the ultimate heroic key). It’s easy to sound strenuous at the beginning of this movement but it’s not a mistake the Kungsbacka Trio make, sounding strong yet never belligerent, and finding almost as many colours as the miraculous Florestan recording (see above).

The opening to this trio appears to take up the gauntlet thrown down by Beethoven’s mature piano trios – but how very different a path Schubert takes.

Piano trio no. 2 in e-flat major d.929 schubert