Andreas Staier / Daniel Sepec / Roel Dieltiens FRANZ SCHUBERT Piano Trios Op. 99 & 100

This is a period-instrument recording of Franz Schubert's pair of piano trios, separated by the lovely Nocturne in E flat major, D. 897. Some surprises result from the period-instrument treatment. There are some extra pedals on Andreas Staier's fortepiano, a copy of an 1827 Graf instrument: sample the third movement of the Piano Trio in E flat, Op. 100, in its central section, to hear some of the extras (most strikingly the "Janissary" pedal). The period violin of Daniel Sepec and the cello of Roel Dieltiens, however, are close to the sound of the modern versions, and for the most part even the fortepiano shows the clean sounds that were to come. The most important capacity of the fortepiano that Staier exploits is its potential for fluent speed: it can carry out rapid passagework at a moderate volume level, staying involved in the ensemble and not jumping out as a solo instrument. This allows the players to take unusually quick tempi, prioritizing overall design over individual melodies. The big outer movements of the usually gloomily lyrical E flat trio may seem rushed to some, but the parts fit together like some kind of inexorable clockwork, and the interpretation is both technically remarkable and totally fresh. With excellent Teldex studio sound that brings out the unusual fortepiano effects, this is a novel Schubert reading that's well worth your time. (James Manheim)

Georg Nigl / Anna Lucia Richter / Petra Müllejans / Roel Dieltiens / Andreas Staier BACH PRIVAT

This recording is an invitation to immerse ourselves in the musical inner circle of the Bach family. We are familiar with Johann Sebastian Bach as a composer of genius, but we know little about his family life, with the exception of the famous Clavierbüchlein (Little keyboard book) that the forty-year-old composer gave as a present in 1725 to his second wife Anna Magda-lena, his junior by sixteen years. This manuscript is a unique document of the music the family played together. It provides us with a point of reference for the ‘programmes’ of these domestic concerts: it contains short keyboard pieces and songs alongside extended arias taken from the church cantatas, as well as chamber music. Bach and his two eldest sons were not only virtuoso harpsichordists but also excellent violinists, while the composer’s son-in-law Bach, J. C. Altnic-kol, played the cello and was an outstanding double bass player. Anna Magdalena Bach and her oldest stepdaughter both contributed as singers. And the still young children of the second marriage participated by playingeasy pieces on their father’s various keyboard instruments. The musicians and singers on this recording, all eminent exponents of Bach and of Baroque music in general, have come together here to bring these exceptional moments back to life.

Andreas Staier / Daniel Sepec / Roel Dieltiens FRANZ SCHUBERT Piano Trios Op. 99 & 100

"One glance at Schubert's trio, and the miserable hustle and bustle of human existence vanishes, the world takes on fresh lustre", wrote Robert Schumann in 1836 of Schubert's Piano Trio D898. He was equally admiring of the Viennese composer's other great trio, D929, notably its funeral march-like Andante con moto, later to achieve cinematic fame in Kubrick's 'Barry Lyndon'.
Here three peerless interpreters bring out every nuance of these endlessly fascinating works on their 'period instruments', including a splendid copy of an 1827 Viennese fortepiano.