Chamber Award Sitkovetsky Trio
Ravel • Saint-saëns
Ravel: Piano Trio;
Saint-saëns: Piano Trio No. 2 Sitkovetsky Trio BIS BIS-2219
‘As we began working on this recording, we realised there were important connections between the works,’ says violinist Alexander Sitkovetsky. ‘Ravel wasn’t quite sure how to put together a trio, so he looked to the piano trios of Saint-saëns, whom he greatly admired, as an example for how this should be done.’ That the Sitkovetsky Trio had already decided to record an album featuring piano trios of the two composers was therefore fortuitous.
Both works had for some time formed part of the group’s concert repertoire – a crucial ingredient for the album’s success, all three members agree – but putting together their dream interpretation in the studio remained a challenge. ‘For me, finding the right colours in any impressionistic music is very complicated,’ says cellist Isang Enders. ‘Ravel’s music, in particular, has such variety of imagination in the sound – so we had to find a way to encapsulate his orchestral sensibility in just three instruments.’ Pianist Wu Qian agrees: ‘I don’t have the biggest hands, so I had to work out how to play the notes and to use the pedal to create this huge orchestral texture.’
Enders found the recording process a thoroughly useful exercise for the Ravel. ‘The recording studio can be like a laboratory,’ he says. ‘There in “Frankenstein’s studio” you can experiment with different balances – even between single notes – and indulge in a level of detail that would never be possible in a live concert.’
Saint-saëns, a more ‘conservative’ composer in Sitkovetsky’s words, and ‘nostalgic’ according to Enders, required a more traditional approach. ‘We felt that longer takes worked far better for the Saint-saëns because of the music’s sweeping nature,’ says Sitkovetsky.
‘The first and last movements, especially, are huge in scale – you can tell he was an organist! So we wanted to capture that sense of grandeur.’
That the recording took place in St George’s Bristol was certainly helpful. ‘The hall has a wonderful acoustic,’ says Sitkovetsky. ‘But, of course, when making a recording you’re not playing for someone at the back of the room – instead you’re taking the hall’s acoustic and directing it into a microphone right in front of you. So, it’s a case of adjusting your sound and technique for that situation.’ Charlotte Smith