Martha Aarons, Lev Polyakin, Frances Renzi - Last Silence (2021)

As you can see from the cover for this CD, it is being marketed on Paul Schoenfield’s name—not because he is the only composer on the disc (which you’d be led to believe) or even the most famous composer (all in all, I’d think that Jacques Ibert is probably the biggest name here, though Nino Rota and Cesar Cui are also well known), but because Last Silence is the sequel to his biggest hit as a chamber music composer, Café Music. Although this is true, it’s a bit of deception.

Nonetheless, the music is all good and, more importantly, played well by our three intrepid soloists. Since all of them are named individually on the cover and inlay, they apparently don’t have a name as a working group, but as the tight ensemble in the opening of the Rota Trio will show you, they are certainly as good as any name trio out there. The music of this trio is generally of a light nature, much of it using fast, repeated 16th-note figures in the piano part around which the flute and violin revolve like spinning tops.
Tracklist
01. Trio for Flute, Violin & Piano: I. Allegro ma non troppo
02. Trio for Flute, Violin & Piano: II. Andante sostenuto
03. Trio for Flute, Violin & Piano: III. Allegro vivace con spirito
04. 5 Petits duos, Op. 56: No. 1, Badinage
05. 5 Petits duos, Op. 56: No. 2, Berceuse
06. 5 Petits duos, Op. 56: No. 3, Scherzino
07. 5 Petits duos, Op. 56: No. 4, Nocturne
08. 5 Petits duos, Op. 56: No. 5, Waltz
09. 4 Souvenirs (Version for Violin & Piano): No. 1, Samba
10. 4 Souvenirs (Version for Violin & Piano): No. 2, Tango
11. 4 Souvenirs (Version for Violin & Piano): No. 3, Tin Pan Alley
12. 4 Souvenirs (Version for Violin & Piano): No. 4, Square Dance
13. 2 Interludes: No. 1, Andante espressivo
14. 2 Interludes: No. 2, Allegro vivo
15. Last Silence: I. Overture
16. Last Silence: II. Berceuse
17. Last Silence: III. Polka
18. Last Silence: IV. Andalusia
19. Last Silence: V. Serbia