When this piano trio came to life in 2009, they were greeted with great enthusiasm from audiences that found themselves bowled over by the intense musicality of this exciting new ensemble. Their first CD, of Mendelssohn piano trios, was launched in February 2012 to the highest critical acclaim. Their second recording, of French repertoire, was released in June 2013 and, like it's predecessor, has been receiving rave reviews internationally.

Classical Music

The King’s Singers perform the complete Italian madrigal collection Il Trionfo di Dori. Commissioned by Venetian nobleman Leonardo Sanudo in 1592, the collection features 29 works, each written by a different composer and poet, and set for nine voices. Among them are Vecchi, Gabrieli, Marenzio, de Monte, Striggio, Anerio, Gastoldi, Porta and Palestrina.

One has no problem naming famous String Quartet ensembles; however, String Trios simply cannot make the same boast! Even on the repertoire of the side, composers have produced many more significant quartets than they have string trios. Thus, it was something of a minor miracle when three musicians such as violinist Arthur Grumiaux, Georges Janzer (V�gh Quartet violist) and Janzer's wife, the cellist Eve Czako, finally met to perform works of Mozart and Beethoven. The resulting June 8, 1966 Schwetzingen Castle recital is a most memorable concert that will welcome repeated listening.

J.S. Bach’s six Trio Sonatas BWV 525–530, works whose charm resides not only in their rich variety of compositional style and musical invention but also in their virtuosic demands, occupy a treasured place in the organ repertoire.David Newsholme offers a fresh perspective on these seminal works, re-ordering their sequence and drawing on the unique qualities of the Metzler organ of Trinity College, Cambridge.David Newsholme, former Organ Scholar at New College, Oxford and Salisbury Cathedral, is Organist at King’s School, Canterbury and Music Director of the Canterbury Singers.

- The second part of TrioVanBeethoven's complete series of piano trios starts out with the Trio in B flat, op. 97 ('Archduke'), one of Beethoven's most popular and extensive trios. - Although only published in 1824, Beethoven's 'Cockatoo Variations', op. 121a, based on a popular song from the musical comedy Die Schwestern von Prag by composer Wenzel M�ller, must have begun around the beginning of the 19th c., thus providing for both early and late stylistic features. - The Allegretto for the Piano Trio in E flat, Hess 48 (1784) on the other hand, constitutes a truly early work by Beethoven.

Trio Jean Paul is one of the world's best-known trios, regularly touring around the globe. *Trio Jean Paul/Eckardt Heiligers: piano/Ulf Schneider: violin/Martin L�hr: cello.

I first came across the Los Angeles-based Pacific Trio following its 2009 release of American Composers on the Marsyas label. On this new Capriccio release the Pacific Trio - founded in 1979 - has turned to piano trios by three composers who were products of the Austro-German conservatory system. Having Jewish heritage ensured their names were listed in the infamous Lexikon der Juden in der Musik (Encyclopaedia of Jews in Music) leading to their music being banned by the Nazis. At various times all three composers managed to immigrate to America where they continued their careers without fear of persecution.

Brahms was so impressed with Zemlinsky’s Trio for clarinet, cello and piano in D Minor from 1896 that he recommended the work to his publisher Simrock. Shrewdly Brahms suggested that the clarinet part be also written for a violin so a standard piano trio could play the work and increase its scope. The score reminded me slightly of Brahms but without the glorious melodies. Although the three movements have different tempi the overall mood is warm and agreeable with a controlled passion, never unruly but with a rather windswept disposition.

Bloch’s Three Nocturnes for piano, violin and cello were written in 1924 at Cleveland where he was founding director of the newly established Cleveland Institute of Music. Neo-classical in style each nocturne is a character piece said to portray a particular feature of the night. Beautifully drafted and agreeable this work seems over all too soon. Especially delightful is the colourful and rather alluring opening Nocturne - an Andante that sounds distinctly like raindrops. The second reminds me of a Berceuse and the third marked Tempestoso is spiritedly rhythmic somewhat evocative of wind and rain.

A child prodigy, Korngold wrote his Trio for piano, violin and cello in D major, Op. 1 in 1909/10 when he was a mere 13 years old. In 1910 he had written a ballet Der Schneemann (The Snowman) that had been performed at the Vienna Court Opera. Despite the assiduousness of the Pacific Trio everything feels too similar in mood with the different tempi of each of the four movements insufficient to hold the attention. As the product of a boy, albeit a genius, it’s perhaps not surprising there is little emotional depth to the writing.

The engineers provide warm well balanced sound while the dedicated and well prepared players deliver amenable performances displaying satisfying unity and a pleasing timbre. It’s bold of the trio to present three rarely heard works on a single CD but to increase the desirability of the release by not including one well known repertoire score is an opportunity missed.

– MusicWeb International (Michael Cookson)

Founded in 2003, the Daroch Trio is a family affair, made up of three siblings: Anna Daroch (violin), Maria Daroch (piano), and Tomasz Daroch (cello). Their debut in their native city of Łódź, Poland met with high critical acclaim, inspiring them to continue along their artistic path. They are all graduates of the Henryk Wieniawski Music School in Łodź. Their new Dux CD finds the trio playing three important and challenging piano trios well-established in the chamber repertoire, by Dvořák, Debussy and Ravel.

From the humorous to the sublime: On it's third GENUIN-CD the magnificent Trio Ex Aequo offers a cross section of Beethoven's works for piano trio. From an early work to the mature Ghost Trio and the delightful variations based on the melody Ich bin der Schneider Kakadu. The timbral palette of the trio (Matthias Wollong - violin, Matthias Moosdorf - cello, a member of the Leipzig String Quartet and Olga Gollej - Piano) is large and meets the enormous demands of the three works in each moment. You won't even know which work you will first want to hear again: The pale sonorities, the fine web of the Ghost Trio or the mirth of the Kakadu, which is unequalled in Beethoven's oeuvre...

The superb Horszowski Trio is heard here in their debut recording. The Horszowskis (Jesse Mills, violin, Raman Ramakrishnan, cello and Rieko Aizawa, piano) draw their name from legendary pianist, Miecyslaw Horszowski, who made one of his specialties the repertoire of the three composers presented here.

Classical Music

Telemann’s legacy is extremely extensive and comprises all the customary musical genres of the time. Typical of Telemann are cantablie melodies, inventively applied timbres and, especially in his late works, unusual harmonic effects. The instrumental works frequently reveal the strong influence of French and Italian music, and occasionally folkloristic Polish influences. Stefan Schilli, solo oboist of the Bavarian Radio Symphony, has strongly committed himself to this repertoire; this forms the basis for the creation of the present CD with Schilli’s “Accademia giocosa”.

Delos exercises its penchant for rare and eclectic repertoire yet again with this recording of two highly significant 20th c. works for piano trio by Armenian master Arno Babadjanian (1921-83) and the legendary Latvian composer Peteris Vasks (b. 1946). The Potch Trio is one of South Africa’s most distinguished chamber ensembles. Their collective skill, emotional depth, interpretive intensity and glowing sound place them among the finest ensembles of their kind. “...both (works)…recognize suffering as well as bliss. Both emphasize beauty.” - Piet Koornhof

The Novák Trio (oboe, clarinet, bassoon), which builds on the long Czech tradition of music for wind instruments started by Reicha, is a busy ensemble, annually performing about fifty concerts in the Czech Republic and abroad. This CD offers music by living Czech composers which has been directly dedicated to Novák trio. Composers include Ilja Hurník, Tomás Svoboda, Jirí Gemrot and Jaroslav Krcek.