Trio Wanderer
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Classical Music Magazine | January 2011
The joy to be found here is in the playing. From the anguish of Smetana’s trio to the nostalgia of Listz’s transcriptions, this is a mordant collection, but one in which the rich, velvety sound of the Trio Wanderer makes every note and nuance tell. The intensity of the playing exceeds that in the Wanderer’s 1996 recording of the Smetana for Sony, and the flashes of charm in the Liszt transcriptions ensure that aesthetic pleasure alleviates the pain of the content. - CD of the Month: Smetana/Liszt Harmonia Mundi HMC 902060

THE SUNDAY TIMES, 24.1.2010 | Hugh Canning
The sound is sumptuous, almost symphonic in scale and expansiveness, especially in the surging Brahmsian outer allegros. The intimate Fauré has rarely sounded more dramatic and passionate.

THE TIMES, 9.1.2010 | Geoff Brown
The french trio Wanderer sail through his two piano quartets with masterful ease. Vincent Coq's nimble piano is a constant joy, while Raphael Pidoux's cello spins sombre magic in op 15's slow movement. the second quartet, op 55, is asubtle work, focused but febrile, but whichever way Fauré's kaleidoscope turns, these artists sensitively reflect the music's glories.

THE TIMES, 11.7.2008 | Geoff Brown
***** So far, Messiaen’s centenary year has brought three new recordings of his Quartet for the End of Time, none finer than this gorgeously expressive account from the French musicians of Trio Wanderer and the superb clarinettist Pascal Moraguès. Clarity of texture, delicacy of phrasing, the subtlest of colours: this account’s a triumph of technique. The players give us rapture too – essential in Messiaen.

BBC Music Magazine, April 2008 | Stephen Johnson
Performance ***** Sound **** BBC Music Choice [Schubert recording] They aproach Schubert not so much as an early Romantic, bot rather as a fantastically imaginative and generous Classicist, the musical invention very much 'alive' on many levels. The sense of sparkling, intimate exchange between the three players is as vital and at times as sophisticated as in Haydn. There's a tremendous sense of fun in the finales of both trios. Pure delight is conveyed.

The Times (UK), 30.3.2008 | Hugh Canning
The Wanderers are among the elite piano, violin and cello combinations [...]. The Wanderers take us on an exhilarating emotional rollercoaster ride, with a wonderful sense of conversational repartee in the fast outer movements and rapt expressions of wonderment in Schubert’s sublime, songful slow movements. All three players are outstanding musicians [...].

The Queens Bar Bulletin, March 2008 | Howard L. Wieder
Having listened to their live concert on February 10, I have never heard a Chamber group, since the Beaux Arts Trio; give such a technically spectacular and emotionally compelling performance, ever! I was not alone. The Trio Wanderer was greeted with a standing ovation at the concert's conclusion. [Trio Wanderer - Frick Collection, 10th of February 2008]

Münchner Merkur, 10.3.2008 | sta
Ohne Vibrationen lassen Jean-Marc Phillips-Varjabédian und Raphaël Pidoux ihre Streichinstrumente schauderhaft fahl klingen. Dadurch lässt sich der Satz aus einem Guss erleben und die erzeugten skeletthaft knarzenden Strukturen wirken umso Geisterhafter. [...] Sensible erfasst das Trio die Klangkontraste.

TAGESSPIEGEL, 16.12.2007 | Ulrich Amling
Happy New Ears | Die beste Musik 2007 Subtiler Pathosverzicht mit Esprit: Das bekommt Mendelssohns eleganter Musik fantastisch. Sie strahlt wie der Mond durch dunkle Wolken am abendlichen Firmament.

CONCERTONET, 9.12.2007 | Sébastien Foucart
Inzwischen gehört das französische Ensemble zu dieser Klasse von Musikern die man einfach nicht überhören kann. Die einzigartige Mischung von Charisma, tadelloser Technik und feinem Gefühl sorgt für stets faszinierende, reife, überlegte Interpretationen, die immer im Dienst der Musik stehen [...] Wenn das Beaux-Arts Trio schon seinen Abschied ankündigt, mag das musikliebende Publikum wohl nach möglichen Nachfolgern suchen. Das Trio Wanderer, das sich bei Menahem Pressler, lebendes Gedächtnis des legendären Ensemble, weitergebildet hat, steht da als seriöser Kandidat.

ClassicsToday (USA), 4.12.2007 | David Hurwitz
FELIX MENDELSSOHN Piano Trios Nos. 1 & 2 Trio Wanderer Artistic Quality 10 of 10 Sound Quality 10 of 10 Mendelssohn expects the pianist to execute tons of notes at high speed in the outer movements of both works, without ever overpowering the strings. That Trio Wanderer manages this feat so effortlessly is just one of the delightful surprises that await you if you add this release to your collection.

DAILY TELEGRAPH (UK), July 14, 2007 | Richard Wigmore
Passion is the keynote here.
BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE, July 2007
Chamber Music Cd of the Month
There have been fine recordings of this pieces […] but none that brings them more vividly to life. [Mendelssohn CD]