Gilels, Kogan and Rostropovich

It is difficult to form a great piano trio (as opposed to a very good one). First of all, one needs three players of top-notch international stature. Then one needs those three players to play together regularly over a period of years. The three players need to be collegiate -- that is, from approximately the same musical backgrounds. Finally, the three players need to be friends, not competitors each seeking advantage or the limelight; friends share things fairly and naturally.

Recently I enthused over the piano trio formed by Cortot, Thibaud and Casals -- a true model of a great piano trio. Yesterday I spent no less than five hours re-listening to a Doremi set of piano trios played by Gilels, Kogan and Rostropovich; to my mind, another great piano trio that met all my conditions above. The three Russians play Haydn, Beethoven, Mozart, Saint-Saëns, Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky and a few other pieces. They seem to be enjoying themselves, and we can enjoy the music with them. It's good, listening to Gilel's piano playing. It's good listening to Kogan's violin playing. And it's good listening to Rostropovich's cello playing. Considering the source of the originals (1950s, mainly early Russian) the Doremi transfers are excellent.

The middle of the 20th century also saw another all-star piano trio: that of Rubinstein, Heifetz and Feuerman (later Piatigorsky). According to Rubinstein, Heifetz tried to insist that his name always came first, which is a clue as to why I would not classify this trio as “great”; they were not friends, they had different backgrounds, and they did not play together too often. Gilels, Kogan and Rostropovich played together for ten years (from 1949 until 1959). In the end, the stress between the passionate dissident Rostropovich and the patriotic communist Kogan became too much and Rostropovich left the trio. Our loss, but at least we have five hours of recordings as souvenirs.