(Down the page,
Trio no. 1 Op. 49 in D minor has been uploaded. Date of recording: February 24, 2004)
And here,
Trio no. 2 Op. 66 in C minorFLAC's plus bonus greenroom coverage:
https://www.mediafire.com/?95794j38hi5yzsgJanuary 27th, 2008. Very live.
A fiddler for a famous country music star, a cellist at a 60% hearing loss, and a pianist who got his education from reading the backs of sugar packets...This is not the Berlin Philharmonic playing Bruckner's 8th as routine; this is the provincial orchestra struggling, fighting, and against all odds, by grit and determination, conquering the mountain with great passion. I have a job where I go from room to room playing for singers' lessons and accompanying college students at a small university just trying at significance. They let me do things there. To play a recital, all's I have to do is ask and book the date, and people will be there. We've had some tremendous fun; I've played things I would not play anywhere else. The nature of these performances is to do what inspires when it inspires, and this has given birth to a series of "one off" performances with titanic moments (and the other side some slip in the mud failures). But we have great fun.
This is a recital that almost didn't happen on account of a deep cut on the tip of my right index finger - the worst pain I've felt in my life! I tried in simple voice lessons, slipping out because I was in tears at the very touch. A nurse deadened the nerve with some liquid stuff and wrapped it in a bandage, thus saving this concert. I don't know if you've ever played with a numb finger before...it was not as hard as it sounds; it was like running on air in a sense...a certain worry removed.
But then there are the quirks. I am not a fan of turning pages, or of page turners assisting me. It's an awkward quirk producing wild experiments like this:

The Henle score printed small, cut up, and pasted to poster board, one per movement.

This was pure, utter genius from my mind, until it produced what I think is the most terrifying moment I've had on stage. I...got...LOST! Lost in THAT! It was but a moment of panic in the beautiful B theme in the first movement, and I then found my bearings. You can guess I stuck to that thing as tight as I could stick until it was over. Oi...
But what we have is the C minor trio of Mendelssohn. It's not the D minor. It's the rarely played, too often neglected, fire breathing C minor...and it is MAGNIFICENT! Truly one of the composer's best efforts, a darkness to light transition for the ages. It must be listened to in a sitting, all that tension mounting up to the great chorale quote of the last movement. MAGNIFICENT! Ah...
The short of it...This concert is almost 3 years old. I happened to listen to it yesterday on my ride into town, and I was really bowled over by the memory. There are too many warts to count, but we hung together, and in the end we overcame. I had to share it with you.
I really hope it moves and inspires you as well. Happy, happy listening. High quality FLAC's above, low quality mp3's below.
Dave