Clara Schumann (1819-1896): Piano Trio in G Minor, Op. 17
Rebecca Clarke (1886-1979): Piano Trio (1921)

Reviewing this release during International Women's History Month is no mere diversity box-checking exercise. Both works are substantial, passionate, rewarding and stand completely on their own without any special pleading.

The historical context therefore does not define the works, although it has meant that, until recently, they have been unjustly neglected. That same historical context does, however, provide some added richness of understanding of their form and emotional content. For example, Clarke's wonderful Piano Trio was written shortly after the end of the First World War and is clearly influenced by the tragic loss of life and suffering. Much like Vaughan Williams' Third symphony, Britten's 'War Requiem', Butterworth's 'Banks of Green Willow', and Ravel's 'Le Tombeau de Couperin' reflect their varied war experiences through the prism of their individual compositional lens. Ironically, the death of so many budding male composers in the trenches provided a brief opportunity for women composers to seek some recognition. That door sadly closed quickly after the 1920's, until recent decades have seen a more widespread and hopefully permanent revival.

Clara Schumann's Trio comes first in this release. Written when Clara Schumann's compositional skills were fully mature, her husband not yet seriously mentally ill, but having had their fourth child who was sadly to die within the coming year. It is a substantial work, in four full movements. It is a great example of the clarity and conversation that are central characteristics of chamber music. The small number of instruments enable clear identification of parts in forms such as a fugue (last movement) and in the many contrapuntal elements throughout, but particularly in the first movement. Additionally, the melodic sharing and response of the individual instruments emphasizes its intimate if developed form.

The Trio Rigamonti's performance reflects these elements with great skill, the piano (despite being Clara's main instrument) not dominating over the stringed instruments. It was a Trio for Piano, Violin and Cello, not just for Piano with two supporting instruments. The evolving melodies are passed gracefully between the instruments.

The playing in the sonata form first movement is deft, the recording balance clear, and the pace a good fit for the music. The main melody becomes quite an earworm after several hearings!

The Scherzo second movement moves briskly, but sensitively, the initial tune played with a gentle scotch snap (some other ensembles tend to smooth that accent out). The Trio section provides a delicious contrast, the gentle syncopations emerging clearly throughout the movement.

The appealing melody that provides the focus for the slow movement is played with flowing grace, and the energetic middle section varies the mood, before returning to the limpid playing of the initial melody.

The final movement, dominated by fugal elements combining the opening two themes, is played with great skill and provides a positive and triumphant ending to an assured reading of this fine work.

Clara Schumann was not only an excellent composer, but also mother of 8 children (4 of whom predeceased her), managing Robert's affairs, and was then virtually unable to see him once he had entered a sanatorium near Bonn where he ended his days. With a few exceptions she gave up composing from the time of Robert's confinement, living for another 40 years to her death in 1896. It was a remarkable life.

After the positive ending of the Schumann Trio, the start of the Rebecca Clarke work is a sharp Fortissimo wake-up call. Clearly the idiom and overall mood will be more austere. The style reflects the composer's interest in contemporary composers of the time, including Ernst Bloch, Stravinsky, Debussy, Ravel and Bartok, such is the combination of spiky passion and restless song like flow during the piece. While the second subject of the movement is more mysterious and lyrical, a commentator has aptly described the first movement that "does not so much subside as simmer throughout the first movement" - an excellent description. The clear echoes of trumpet calls elicits the recently ended First World War, a reference likely very pointed to contemporary listeners, although Clarke herself never confirmed that allusion.

The Trio Rigamonti play this work with great energy and flow, making an excellent case for it to be fully back in the chamber music repertoire. I can imagine the Emerson's playing it with their typical energy and forthrightness. The sibling Italian trio here manage to present not only the energy, but also the poignancy such as the gentle interludes in the first movement, including the echoes of trumpet calls from the apparent distance.

The theme that so strikingly starts the first movement continues to be a common thread throughout all three movements, in varying ways. The reserved opening of the second movement is played with appropriate enigmatic mystery, and the canon that ends the movement is similarly poised.

The final movement takes up the theme from the previous two movements and includes passages of striking pizzicato from the strings, which could be louder but still a good performance. It ends on a triumphant note, while the contrasting quieter episodes remind us of the dark side of the experience in this trio. It is dispatched with vitality but also sensitivity and provides a satisfying end to an enjoyable recital.

Born of German and American parents and given the struggle to get recognition for her compositions, Rebecca Clarke moved to the United States before the start of the Second World War and pretty much stopped composing for the rest of her life. Before dying in 1979 in New York, she was able to attend a few performances of her works, and published an autobiography that, amongst other elements, referred to frequent beatings by her father during her early years.

This coupling is fairly rare, I listened to that of the Storioni Trio, a technically excellent performance that adds a few short works by Alba Rosa Vietor, a similarly neglected Italian American composer and violinist. It is a good alternative option, in addition to this release.

The sibling Rigamonti Trio play both these works with great passion and assurance, and the recording is (as expected) of a high quality. I will return to listen to these works in this recording again, which is really the ultimate praise for a release, and I recommend this to any chamber music devotee.