SCHUBERT, Franz
Trio for piano, violin and cello in B flat major D 898 op. 99
II. Andante un poco mosso
Ferenc Rados, guest professor
Monte Trio
Francesco Sica, violin
Claude Frochaux, cello
Anca Lupu, piano
Professor Rados stops them near the end of the movement to begin with his indications and suggestions regarding the trio’s interpretation, fundamentally on the phrasing (balance of the music), articulation, and breathing. The maestro comments that, according to an 18th-century approach, the 1st note under a slur – even if it is a syncopation – is the most active. He continues making recommendations (and demonstrating them by playing the piano) about the interrelation of the three instruments in this sense of phrasing and balance, and about the importance of giving direction and mobility.
Ferenc Rados also makes comments about the expressiveness and character at certain moments, the duration of the phrases, and the dynamics within the style. Regarding the strings, he makes indications about the weight of the bow at the end of the phrases and the change of bowings.
After some reflections on the movements and gestures when playing the piano, Rados proposes some exercises to the pianist: playing with the elbow and with the hand in profile (not with the fingers) to feel the weight and work on the phrasing and dynamics in piano. The student must play the piano with organic movements, as if playing a percussion instrument. He also makes more suggestions about the phrasing of the syncopations and about phrasing within the style without exceeding in very romantic crescendi.
