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Morton Feldman’s Trio (1 hr, 45 min, 22 sec.) takes scale, the physical experience of sound and novel uses of musical memory into consideration. With his delicate manipulation of musical materials, Feldman blurs the listeners’ sense of time as their musical memory struggles to distinguish between past and present sounds – listeners are free to lose themselves in the beauty of each musical moment.

Aki Takahashi and Rohan de Saram (formerly of the Arditti Quartet) both worked closely with Feldman. Marc Sabat is among today’s great Feldman interpreters, having recorded Feldman’s complete music for violin & piano on Mode (mode 82/83).

Original recording in superb 96khz, 24-bit sonics. Two very distinct mixes were made for the surround and stereo versions. The natural reflected hall sound – which would typically be in the rear surround speakers – is not very dramatic because of the basically quiet nature of the Trio. Instead, for the surround mix, we chose to place the listener in an intimate perspective with the musicians: directly between the violin and the cello, with the piano in front. For the stereo mix, the violin and piano are clearly separated left and right to accentuate their interplay. Feldman’s use of extended string techniques can blur the timbral separation between cello and violin, creating unified sonic events exploring the qualities and possibilities of the combination of instruments – for example, utilising the resonance of the piano and the sustaining qualities and dynamic control of the strings. These subtle nuances are brought out by the detail of the recording.

SPECIAL DVD FEATURES:

• The recording sessions were filmed and directed by Tim Chu in High Definition Video, widescreen format. The intimate video allows the viewer to enjoy the subtle interplay of the performers.

• BONUS video essay on Feldman and Trio by noted German composer and Feldman expert Walter Zimmermann, who hosted the premiere of Trio at his Beginner’s Studio concerts in Köln (31-minutes).

• The DVD format allows the 105-minutes to be enjoyed continuously on one disc without a break.

• 5.1 Surround sound, presented in Dolby and 24-bit DTS. Also a dedicated Dolby stereo mix option.