Reference Recordings is pleased to announce Spanish Impressions, our second album with this elite trio. The Hermitage Piano Trio consists of violinist Misha Keylin, cellist Sergey Antonov, and pianist Ilya Kazantsev. The trio has been praised for its “polished and spirited interpretations” (The Washington Post), “absolute rhythmic precision and dynamic exuberance” (Boston Musical Intelligencer), and “powerful, intelligent and deeply moving performances” (The Seattle Times). Their first album on our label, Rachmaninov, was nominated for three 2020 Grammy Awards in the categories of Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance, Best Engineered Album, Classical, and Producer Of The Year, Classical.

In Spanish Impressions, the trio explores the rich and diverse musical heritage of Spain, from the folkloric dances of Arbós’s Tres Piezas Originales en Estilo Español, op.1, to the lyrical and expressive Piano Trio no.2 in B minor, op.76, by Turina, who composed it after the death of his daughter. The album also showcases the virtuosic and passionate Piano Trio in C major by Cassadó, a renowned cellist who infused his music with Spanish and Catalan elements, and the Tres Impresiones by Perelló, a violinist who dedicated his work to his friends and colleagues in the Trio Barcelona. This project has been years in the making. The album was recorded in April 2023 by RR’s own Grammy-winning and multi-nominated engineering team at legendary Skywalker Sound, in Marin County, California. Here is a statement from Grammy-winning producers Victor and Marina Ledin describing how it came about:

“For the last several years we have been exchanging scores, ideas and developing programs. The trio had been performing two extraordinary Spanish trios by Turina and Cassadó – romantic, exotic and lush works. Using these two works as anchor points, we built around them ‘bookends’ – three Spanish dances by Arbós and three Spanish impressions by Perelló. All four composers are interconnected to one another through their relationships to each other. Arbós was a celebrated conductor who also orchestrated Albéniz’s Iberia and Perello was a violinist who studied with Albéniz and performed with Granados – both of these gentlemen had close ties to Turina (Arbos conducted many of his works) and Cassadó (a celebrated cellist, and next to Casals, among the greatest cellists of Spain). Yes, there are a few recordings out there of the Turina and Cassadó, while the Arbós and Perelló are musical gems and rarities. The Perelló score only exists in a few European libraries – it took us most of 2 years to get PDFs of the score during the pandemic.”

Since 1976, Reference Recordings has been one of the most innovative and respected independent labels in the music business. Founded on the premise that most commercial recordings sound nothing like the live performance experience, Reference Recordings releases have been highly praised for their dedication to high quality sound in the service of great music. Founder Tam Henderson (1998 Grammy nominee for Producer of the Year), was joined in 1978 by engineer Keith O. Johnson, who is still our Technical Director. More than 150 projects and many Grammy awards and nominations later, RR’s first and second-generation team continues recording what many consider to be the finest-sounding classical, jazz and blues discs in the world.