"... isn′t actually a set per se, for the discs are available separately and bear numbers that are not sequential. Still, it is hard to imagine collectors purchasing one of them without promptly going after the other.
Thanks to Tacet′s series of reissues, the Abegg Trio, still very much a force in European music (although the group has not toured the US for some time), is rapidly becoming a personal favorite. Part of the reason for this is the overall high quality of the performances. The use of a Bösendorfer Imperial piano doesn′t hurt matters a bit. And the engineering is outstanding, too. The ensemble playing of violinist Ulrich Beetz, cellist Birgit Erichson, and pianist Gerrit Zitterbart is of the highest order, and the interpretations strike me as rock-solid. Their two CDs encompass all of Schubert′s surviving music for piano trio, and a bit more too, for they perform the finale of the Second Trio as it was published in 1828 plus the full, uncut original version. It′s nice to have the former in such a nice reading, but it is hardly unknown, and chances are good that most listeners will opt for the complete version... The four works presented by the Abegg Trio easily rank among the best modern-instrument performances on record that I have heard - and that picss a great deal of territory...."
John W. Lambert
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John W. Lambert
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