Gramophone Magazine
March 2022
Editor's Choice

Katharina Konradi (soprano), Trio Gaspard

Beethoven: 23 Songs of Various Nationalities, WoO 158a: No. 15, Our girlfriends went
Beethoven: 23 Songs of Various Nationalities, WoO 158a: No. 13, Lots of gnats have hatched in the wood
Beethoven: Oh, rivers, rivers (No. 14 from Songs of Various Nationalities, WoO 157)
Beethoven: 23 Songs of Various Nationalities, WoO 158a: No. 16, Lovely Minka, I must away!
Stravinsky: Pastorale
Weinberg: Children’s Songs, Op. 13, for soprano and piano, to poems by Itzhok Lejb Perez
Shostakovich: Piano Trio No. 1 in C minor, Op. 8
Gubaidulina: Letter to the Poetess Rimma Dalos: I. Crotchet (120)
Gubaidulina: Letter to the Poetess Rimma Dalos: II. Crotchet (60)
Rachmaninov: Vocalise, Op. 34 No. 14
Shostakovich: Seven Romances on Poems of Alexander Blok, Op. 127
Auerbach: Postscriptum

Russian Roots is the Trio Gaspard’s debut recording for Chandos records, for which they are joined by soprano Katharina Konradi for a diverse and rewarding programme that explores the Russian influence across almost 200 years of music. A selection of Russian folksongs set by Beethoven, Shostakovich’s first Piano Trio, his Seven Romances on poems by Blok and Weinberg’s Jewish Songs form the backbone of the recital. These are interspersed with Vocalises (wordless songs) by Stravinsky, Rachmaninoff, Gubaidulina and Auerbach.

"The players’ sympathy with a range of styles is well established and Konradi’s idiomatic Russian (first of her many languages) is an obvious asset...Strongly recommended." - Gramophone Magazine, March 2022.