Press reviews

‘This splendid performance of Shostakovich’s Trio Op. 67, demonstrates irony, bitterness and humour, which are this work’s signature features’.

‘...Clarity of the intentions, true instrumental virtuosity, which is necessary for a convincing rendering of musical speech, the singing softness of all three instruments, and a perfectly balanced sound...Tchaikovsky’s trio was performed with stunning success. An incredible emotional power and sincere message’.

‘The interpretation of the Brahms Trio, characterized by both high quality of instrumental embodiment and individual comprehension, made us experience many joyful and touching moments. [...] It was felt that the musicians hear ’towards’ the work as a whole, which is why the whole form unfolded naturally and logically in terms of tempo and dynamic changes. [...] The silence that reigned after the final chords of the trio In Memory of the Great Artist [...] testified the authenticity of the artistic rendering [...] as well as the deafening applause then being given to the artists’.

‘The performing style of the Brahms Trio is distinguished by the symphonic soundscape combined with the invariable nobleness of tone and the exquisite polyphony of musical texture which is characteristic of chamber music’.

‘An awesome symphonic opus, which stands alongside his concerts and is comparable in extent and emotional intensity to the Pathetic Symphony, the work of monumental structure and instrumental boldness, psychologically precise dialogues and diversity of genre scenes and life impressions, the sound picture of human existence created by the great author and conveyed by the prominent musicians with all the power of the tragic talent and brilliance of sound. [...] A colossal intensity! A masterpiece was born right under the eyes of a stunned audience’.

‘An amazing harmony of the sound perspective, in which each instrument seems to play the only possible role for itself at a given moment — no matter, whether it’s going to the forefront, or stepping back, or connecting its voice with the other two. A poetic expression coming from the depths of the soul. The mood of each episode is truly experienced by the musicians, and thanks to this, anything accidental is completely absent in its performance. I wish I could listen to the Brahms Trio again and again!’

‘...the Mendelssohn-like elegance and filigree virtuosity [..] in the early trio of Alexander Alyabyev, as well as the unbridled passion in the work of [...] Pavel Pabst, [...] together with the piercing lyrical themes of these works, played by the musicians with a sense of intimate emotional intonation, fascinated the listeners and were rewarded with a barrage of applause. Performed by the Brahms Trio, these opuses, buried for so long in Russian score sheets, are destined for success’.

‘The philosophical four-part sound fresco began with the almost unreal flute sound of Kirill Rodin’s cello flageolets, which immediately attracted the attention of the audience [...] The incredible concentration reaches its apogee when the dance of death in the finale performed by the Brahms Trio sounds like a warning, mixing in a quasi-Jewish-national theme and disappearing in silence. If I had only one right to shout bravo in my life, I would use it today. Bravo for the Russian Conservatory that they represent, for the profession that they defend, for the traditions of the Russian performing school that they continue, in short — Bravo, Brahms Trio!’

‘Natalia Rubinstein, a pianist whose furious energy can only be compared with her own extraordinary skills as a pianist! And these masterly skills are very precious to the ensemble: they are all-encompassing, but at the same time they seem to be completely undetectable! They do not protrude or demonstrate themselves anywhere; it takes time to comprehend it — and that is when you begin to understand that the remarkable unity of the ensemble is soldered by the painstaking and invisible impact of the piano part on all nuances, melodic subtleties and harmonic transformations’.

‘[...] Schnittke’s trio truly shocked listeners with its sharp pain [...], the depth and intensity of the expression, and overwhelming silence of abandonment [...]’

‘Among the chamber ensembles that play sufficiently elitist music, there are rarely performers like the Brahms Trio who can make the composer’s refined thought accessible to the audience’.

‘...The performers succeeded in the most important thing — in rendering Shostakovich’s refined creative world, capable of reflecting [or just: that reflects] all the colours of life: from spring-like joy to the tragic. [...] The Second Trio (Op. 67) sounded grandiose — like a symphony for three instruments. The performers were not stingy on contrasts, leading the audience through the lyrical and dramatic Intrada of the first movement to an explosion of emotions in the finale’.

‘Elegantly, gently, even with some cute childlike spontaneity, sounded Trio No. 1, created by sixteen-year-old Shostakovich. [...] A strong impression was made by the performance of the Blok cycle (Seven Songs to Words of Alexander Blok, Op. 127): trembling, with a true love for music and inspiration’.

‘The focal point of the evening was Tchaikovsky [...] Free instrumental belcanto, and the rhythmically perfect performance of the fugue was engraved on the memory of a stunned audience that remained silent for a long while, then bursting into applause.’

‘...musical descendants of Vasily Safonov, Leopold Auer, and Karl Davydov’ by The Moscow Times, ‘who have inherited the traditions of the Russian school of music performance and the sublime ideas of ‘cultural missionary outreach’, pioneered by Anton Rubinstein’.

‘Powerful and strongly with a vibrant sense of the unity of furious passion and a strict, noble form... In short, it was Brahms!’