The recording features Itzhak Perlman (violin), Vladimir Ashkenazy (piano), and Lynn Harrell (cello), who formed lasting chamber relationships and recorded major trio repertoire together.
Compositional Technique
In this trio, the piano symbolizes the silenced voice of the deceased Nikolai Rubinstein, while the violin and cello represent Tchaikovsky himself and his patroness Madame von Meck.
Notable Performances
This Tchaikovsky Piano Trio was immortalized in the 1950s by legendary recordings from the Oistrakh Trio, the Kogan-Gilels-Rostropovich grouping, and the 'million-dollar trio' of Heifetz, Rubinstein, and Piatigorsky.
Composition History
Tchaikovsky composed his Piano Trio in A minor as a tribute to his late friend, the pianist-composer Nikolai Rubinstein, brother of Anton Rubinstein.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Despite composing this trio, Tchaikovsky often expressed his dislike for the piano trio form, finding the combination of piano, violin, and cello to be "real torture."
Composition History
The Piano Trio, Op. 50, subtitled 'À la mémoire d'un grand artiste' ('To the memory of a great artist'), remained in manuscript form for over a year before Tchaikovsky agreed to its publication in 1883.
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