The Gould Piano Trio has a reputation as one of the finest, most stylish and versatile chamber ensembles. Recorded live at Wigmore Hall on 17 July 2008, this new release presents a masterpiece of the Piano Trio repertoire, Schubert’s Piano Trio D.929. James MacMillan’s Fourteen Little Pictures, a work championed by the trio since performing it at the BBC Symphony’s MacMillan Festival, is rarely recorded. Composed by one of today’s most successful living composers, this fascinating work interweaves fourteen separate miniatures to form a single work.
"This beautiful performance is preceded by a vivid reading of James MacMillan’s Fourteen Little Pictures. It’s a compelling, 23-minute piano suite, relying on extreme contrasts of mood, texture and colour, and ending with a single tolling bassnote"
“…the outstanding piano playing of Benjamin Frith unearthed a darker, more sardonic side to the music than is commonly revealed. Frith, a fascinating pianist, gets right under the skin of the music, exposing a core that makes for uncomfortable listening”
"[James MacMillan’s] snapshots are realised as meticulously and elegantly as Schubert’s Piano Trio in E flat in this live performance by the Gould Piano Trio. Beautifully balanced, this bizarre juxtaposition of composers works surprisingly well"
- Editor’s Choice -
“Lucy Gould, Alice Neary and Benjamin Frith [The Gould Piano Trio are delightful partners, clearly having a ball; their enthusiasm is infectious”
