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Rating: At the end of 1792, at the age of 21, Beethoven left his native Bonn for the second, definitive journey to Vienna. In his pocket, the letter from his friend and protector Count Waldstein, wishing him to "receive the spirit of Mozart from Haydn's hands," along with the promise of becoming a pupil of the greatest living composer. Behind him, Beethoven left a more serene family situation compared to the past, bringing with him a résumé composed of a handful of youthful works published due to his father's will and nearly fifty occasional pieces, which tell us of an artistic maturity yet to be reached.
In front of him, Vienna and the conquest of a place of honor in the history of humanity.
A guest in the princely residences of Count von Lichnowsky, who accepted his eccentricities and rudeness, Beethoven initiated in those years the radical transformation of the musician from a servile dependent to a free artist, completing a process already attempted by the late Mozart. If not artistic maturity, at least a solid social maturity.
It is in this context that the 3 Piano, Violin, and Cello Trios were born, to which Beethoven attributed the "honor" of being his first opus.
These works are still to be placed in the context of Hausmusik, that is, domestic musical practice, without the ambitions and extravagances reserved for a very different genre: the String Quartet.
The 3 Trios, similar in formal structure - articulated in 4 movements - and in the predominance of piano writing, however, present characteristic and progressively innovative elements.
The first, in E-flat major, is the closest to the Haydn model, for its formal balance and dialogue between instruments. The Beethoven signature emerges in the wonderful "Adagio cantabile", in second position, followed by the replacement of the Minuet with a "Scherzo", still very far from the impulse it will reach in the future.
The second Trio, in G major, already conveys different sensations. The introductory "Adagio", with a concert-like flavor, anticipates an "Allegro vivace" of moderate virtuosity. The "Largo con espressione" that follows is still the best Beethoven, with a nod to Mozart's The Magic Flute in the exposition of the main theme...
With the third Trio, in the preferred key of C minor, the focus shifts from the central to the extreme movements. The initial "Allegro con brio" is already projected into the immediate future, for its "heroic" impulse, formal elaboration, and intricate dialogue between the three instruments. The final "Prestissimo" has, instead, the ability to appear as a free fantasy on a strongly accented theme, set within the rigid dictates of classical form.
The opportunities to listen to the three Trios on record are decidedly rare, compared to the rest of Beethoven's production. The reference remains the complete recordings by the Beaux Arts Trio published in the 1980s by Philips, although the slightly too brilliant recording somewhat penalizes the cello, already sacrificed in the score itself.
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