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Tetzlaff/Tetzlaff/Vogt(Ondine, two CDs)The late pianist is outstanding in these last recordings, accompanied by his longtime collaborators, the violinist Christian Tetzlaff and his cellist sister TanjaThe pianist Lars Vogt died in September last year. His cancer had been diagnosed in 2021, and he was already ill when, against doctors’ advice, he had travelled to Bremen to begin these Schubert recordings with his longtime collaborators, the violinist Christian Tetzlaff and his cellist sister Tanja. They began with the death-haunted E flat Trio, D929, with its funeral-march second movement, and recorded the B flat Trio, D898 four months later. In the sleeve notes to the set, the Tetzlaffs discuss the background to the sessions, paying touching tribute to their friend and his music making: “I find that in the recording,” says Tanja, “one notices that deep inside he already knew that in all likelihood he wasn’t going to be able to live very much longer.”And fine as the playing of the Tetzlaffs is, appropriately it is Vogt’s wonderfully unshowy, rhythmically crisp and never overbearing playing that seems to characterise these outstanding performances, from his whisper-quiet pianissimos to the most forceful triple fortes. The strings match his wonderful dynamic range, too; the music flows naturally, without a moment of contrivance or artificiality, or any hint of sentimentality. Continue reading...