Booklet cover for the Trio Fontenay's recording of the Beethoven piano trios (Teldec 9031-73281-2) which won the 1994 German Record Critics Award.
The Trio Fontenay was a German classical music piano trio which performed worldwide and recorded much of the significant piano trio repertoire between the years 1980 and 2006.
Formation
The Trio Fontenay was formed in Hamburg in 1980. The original members of the trio were Wolf Harden, pianist; Michael Mücke, violinist; and Niklas Schmidt, cellist. The name "Fontenay" is old French for "source" and "fantasy", and is also the name of the street near the Hamburg Conservatory where the ensemble first met to practice. An important early influence on the group's interpretations came from classes they attended in Cologne which were taught by the Amadeus Quartet.[1][2][3]
Concert career
In the 1980s they quickly developed an active concert schedule, including regular appearances at major concert halls and festivals in Europe. In 1986 they made their American debut. Subsequently the group toured North and South America, Australia and the Far East. For a time the ensemble was named "trio in residence" at Théâtre du Châtelet and was based in Paris.[1] In the 1995-1996 season they performed the complete Beethoven cycle at Paris’s Théâtre Chatelet, London’s Wigmore Hall, Berlin’s Schauspielhaus, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, and in Hamburg, Munich, and Cologne.[2] Their recording of these works received the 1994 Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik [German Record Critics Award].[3][4] In 1998 the cellist Niklas Schmidt was replaced by Jens-Peter Maintz.[5] The musicians decided to disband Trio Fontenay in February 2006.[1]
Reviewed by Christopher Headington in Gramophone, May 1988, p. 1616. Accessed 28 May 2009.
Prefers the Fontenay in both these works to the Borodin and the Beaux Arts Trios. Regarding the Rachmaninoff he says: "This performance...is deeply felt as well as skilful, and the recording in a Frankfurt church is a good one, even if the piano occasionally sounds a bit recessed. They are good also in the Mendelssohn Trio, a powerful work which can surprise those who know only the gentler side of this composer; I feel though, that some tempos are a little on the fast side."
Likes the coupling, but prefers the Israel Piano Trio in the Brahms (9/86, CRD 3432), and the Borodin Trio in the Dvorak (2/85, CHAN8320). Finds the Fontenay Trio "too reticent" and the studio acoustic "too harsh."
Notes:
The Brahms trio was reissued as part of a complete set on Teldec 9031-76036-2.
The Dvorak trio was reissued as part of a complete set on Teldec 9031-76458-2.
Reviewed in by Christopher Headington in Gramophone, January 1989, p. 1181. Accessed 28 May 2009.
"I like this issue for its affectionate and skilful playing and for its faithful recording" but "if you seek a more urgent view of this music the Beaux Arts Trio on Philips have more momentum and I have to say that they seem more successful in finding a Schubertian balance between unforced sunny simplicity on the one hand and tension or brooding on the other..."
Note: The Schubert trios were recorded again and released in 1996 on Teldec 4509-94558-2.
"The playing [in the Dvorak] is thoughtful but at the same time spontaneous in feeling, beautifully poised, and generously phrased. ... I can give the Fontenay no greater compliment than to say that their version [of the Brahms] is fully competitive [with Szeryng, Fournier, Rubinstein (4/88, RD86260)], and has its own high qualities of high musicianship, strength and style. Technically the quality of their playing is on a high level, and most importantly, they are able to preserve a feeling of spontaneity in front of the microphones."
Notes:
The Brahms trio was reissued as part of a complete set on Teldec 9031-76036-2.
The Dvorak trio was reissued as part of a complete set on Teldec 9031-76458-2.
Slightly prefers the Guarneri and Fontenay to the Borodin Trio in these works: "Deciding between three such intelligent and well-planned performances is not simple, nor even wholly realistic. For all my admiration of the Borodin, I think there is an ease and elegance in the performance by the Guarneri that is closer to Mendelssohn. The Fontenay are very similar in spirit to the Guarneri, with whom choice can safely rest, if choice there must be."
Mozart:
•Piano Trio in G major, K. 496
•Piano Trio in B-flat major, K. 502
•Piano Trio in C major, K. 548
•Piano Trio in G major, K. 564
•Divertimento in B-flat major, K. 254
Teldec/Warner Classics 2292-46439-2 (2 CDs, 129 min, DDD), released 1 November 1991.
"I like the Fontenay's approach, finding ample energy in outer movements and a good give-and-take between the three players. Sometimes one may feel that all is a bit too bright and breezy" but "their youthful freshness has its own charm.... In sum, I like the Beaux Arts best of all in this repertory..."
Notes several errors of execution, in particular an F-sharp instead of F-natural in the piano part of the fifth movement, repeated nine times. Prefers the recording with Yvonne Loriod, the composers wife, on piano, as more authentic (EMI Encore 575629-2).
Reviewed by Joan Chissell in Gramophone, March 1994, p. 69 Accessed 14 March 2015.
"Indeed their quick-witted teamwork, no less than their often breathtaking individual brilliance, is never in doubt throughout all three discs. Nevertheless, for riper insights into Beethoven's music for piano trio I would strongly advise readers to stick to 'older-world' artists, not forgetting the Beaux Arts and Borodin Trios, the mid-price Zukerman/Du Pré/Barenboim and Stern/Rose/Istomin—or last but not least Perlman/Harrell/Ashkenzay who remain my own favourites. And I say this with regret, as I've so wholeheartedly admired what I've heard from the Fontenay before."
"...taken on its own merits, this new Fontenay coupling of the Second and Third Trios has plenty to commend it in youthful verve and vividness of characterization...."
Reviewed by Richard Wigmore in Gramophone, February 1999, p. 67. Accessed 28 May 2009.
"A well-contrasted programme of late Haydn piano trios in sympathetic performances makes for a tempting proposition. I particularly enjoyed the Fontenay in the expansive opening movements of Nos. 18 and 30, generously and flexibly paced and imaginatively phrased, with the players finding fresh colours and nuances for the exposition repeats.... But if the Fontenay seem more attuned to Haydn's inwardness and lyricism than to his animal spirits, there's much to savour in these affectionate, thoughtfully characterized readings, truthfully captured by Teldec's engineers."
