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Hermitage Piano Trio -
Spanish Impressions
Hermitage Piano Trio is thrilled to announce their next album for Reference Recordings, titled Spanish Impressions. It follows their debut album Rachmaninoff, which was nominated for three 2020 GRAMMY® Awards
In Spanish Impressions, the trio explores the rich and diverse musical heritage of Spain, from the folkloric dances of Arbós’s Tres Piezas Originales en Estilo Español, Op. 1, to the lyrical and expressive Piano Trio No. 2 in B minor, Op. 76 by Turina, who composed it after the death of his daughter. The album also showcases the virtuosic and passionate Piano Trio in C Major by Cassadó, a renowned cellist who infused his music with Spanish and Catalan elements, and the Tres Impresiones by Perelló, a violinist who dedicated his work to his friends and colleagues in the Trio Barcelona.
All four composers are interconnected through their relationships with each other. Cassadó was a celebrated conductor who also orchestrated Albeniz’s Iberia, and Perelló was a violinist who studied with Albeniz and performed with Granados—both of these gentlemen had close ties to Turina (Arbós conducted many of his works) and Cassadó (a celebrated cellist, and next to Casals, among the greatest cellists of Spain).
The album was recorded in April 2023 by RR’s own GRAMMY® winning and multi¬ nominated engineering team at legendary Skywalker Sound in California.
Introducing the Spanish Impressions album
Reviews
”How savvy to begin a programme of Spanish piano trio works with Enrique Arbós’s Three Pieces, Op 1, particularly with its boisterous opening Bolero. The Hermitage Piano Trio give their all, serving up liberal doses of idiomatic rubato and heel-kicking accents. …The musicians also deliver the most supple and shimmering rendition of the [Turina B minor Piano Trio] Molto vivace second movement on disc. … The three charming pieces by Mariano Perelló couldn’t be played better, or so it seems through the ensemble’s impeccably dovetailed phrasing and hair-trigger rhythmic unanimity. State-of-the-art production values and extensive booklet notes only sweeten this release’s unquestionable attraction and appeal.
—Jed Distler, GRAMOPHONE (Awards Issue - October 2023)
”★★★★★ Here’s a real treat: piano trios by four outstanding Spanish composers—Enrique Fernández Arbós, Joaquín Turina, Gaspar Cassadó, and Mariano Perelló. … Expertly recorded at Skywalker Sound by the family team of Sean Martin and Keith O. Johnson, the hi-rez recording stands out for its excellent dynamics, natural colors, and big, realistically spaced images that fill a natural-sounding acoustic. It also impresses with its many pages of informative liner notes. … The Hermitage Piano Trio sounds right at home with the color and verve of this music.
—Jason Victor Serinus, STEREOPHILE (November 2023)
”★★★★★ It would be difficult to imagine better performances of these works than those given by the Hermitage Piano Trio. The ensemble revels in the variety and richness of the works’ instrumental writing. The Trio’s fetching and immaculately executed gradations of tempo, dynamics, and colors are irresistibly seductive. And the intensity with which the artists approach this repertoire is breathtaking. Spanish Impressions offers that rare experience in which the artists convince you that their scintillating, immaculately executed renditions are improvised on the spot. The Hermitage Trio’s brilliant performances are captured in glorious, lifelike sound, a trademark of Reference Recordings’ admirable work.
—Ken Meltzer, FANFARE (January / February 2024)