How many labels can boast not one but two recordings of Wolf-Ferrari's piano trios? But they're so good, they're worth recording (and hearing) more than once. As Norman Lebrecht remarked of the well-received album of Trio Arche (BC95624), 'The two trios... put an instant summer's smile on the sourest of faces. The gift for melody is abundant and the interaction of piano, violin and cello is as infectious and irresistible as a well-made goal in football. Barely half an hour long, either of these trios will make your day... Go on, treat yourself.' Both written early in his career, the trios share the inventiveness and communicative vibrancy of his better-known operas and symphonic works such as the wind concertos on another recent Brilliant Classics release (BC95875). The Op. 5 Trio shows off the confidence of Wolf-Ferrari with quirky juxtapositions of key and an abruptly offhand conclusion to the Scherzo, and a whimsical discursiveness of the Finale that might be described as the lovechild of Schubert and Faure. More ambitious in scope, the Op.7 F sharp minor Trio opens with an expansive, brooding opening movement (lots of harmonic unrest reminiscent of Cesar Franck) followed by two much briefer movements of uncomplicated charm. Wolf-Ferrari's writing for the notoriously tricky combination of instruments is notably sympathetic, allowing the two string instruments to flourish without being overwhelmed by the piano. This ensemble, highly praised in the pages of La Stampa, is led by Franco Mezzena, whose extensive discography of lesser- known Italian chamber music includes most recently the complete quartets of Viotti (BC95264).

The Budapest Trio was founded in 1980 by the Hungarian Ferenc Kiss, leader of the State Philharmonic of Rhineland-Palatinate, and soon gained international renowned. The violinist's partners, violist Tivadar Popa (also from Hungary) and cellist Peter Wopke, are themselves renowned soloists like Kiss. The three musicians are particularly interested in contemporary music; many works have been dedicated to them. Ferenc Kiss plays an Andrea Guarneri from 1671; Popa plays a Pressenda viola from 1831 and Wopke plays a Grancino cello from 1699. On this release, they present works by Mozart- the Divertimento No. 1 in B flat Major K 229, the Flute Quartet in D Major K 285, the Divertimento in E flat Major K 563, which Alfred Einstein called "The most accomplished and finest work which has ever been heard in this world."

Our gigantic edition of Carl Loewe’s complete song and ballad oeuvre proved to be a great success and revealed a genuine cosmos of great dramatic works and enthralling genre miniatures. However, it is known only to a few that Loewe not only composed some six hundred songs and ballads but also produced chamber music. In 1831 the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung described his Piano Trio or Grand Trio op. 12 as “magnificent, finely invented, sustained, and intelligently developed.” Robert Schumann expressed himself in a similar vein: “It is perhaps one of the most fundamentally genuine and most imaginative works by Loewe, one of those worthiest of the best master. Every trio circle must have it.” In his last instrumental work, the Duo Espagnôla for viola and piano, the composer once again ventured onto national terrain and took with him the viola as a special expressive means conveying the Spanish character. The work is melodious throughout and shows both instruments in their best light. The Scottish Pictures for clarinet and piano from Loewe’s late period are demanding genre scenes inspired by the composer’s interest in the Scottish landscape and the country’s vicissitudinous history. At the time enthusiasm for the wild north of the British Isles was very fashionable.

Contemporary Norwegian composer Jon Oivind Ness is from Inderoy, Trondelag. That he has played several instruments, clarinet included, has provided a good basis for Sloughs (2013). Ness has attracted attention since the mid-1990s with the originality of his compositions. It is not his ingenuity, but rather a cheerful vitality that distinguishes his music. It captivates, and the musical expression and titles of his works are unconventional. He has an abundance of ideas, all elegantly developed, and his experience with pop music has given him an awareness of rhythm that permeates the rest of his contemporary works. "Sloughs" has a three-part structure. A more tranquil middle section is encompassed by virtuosic and power-driven passages, insistent and serpent-like. The work was commissioned by the artists. Carl Fruhling composed for all genres, including church music, orchestral works and chamber music. The English cellist Steven Isserlis has done a lot to bring Fruhling's pleasing music to light again after many years of obscurity. The Trio opus 40 was published in 1925 and is in classical four-movement form. Ludwig van Beethoven published Trio opus 38 in 1805, but already then it had something of a varied existence. The work began as "Septet opus 20" for three wind and four string players. The transcription retains the clarinet part from the septet, while the cello part is imbued with an unusually independent quality, and the piano takes over for the missing instruments. The Trio was dedicated to Johann Adam Schmidt, the composer's physician, who tried in vain to inhibit the progress of his deafness.

The Horszowiski Trio debuts on Avie with the complete piano trios by Robert Schumann, music that the ensemble is as passionate about as the composer's Romantic works exude. Schumann's works for piano trio were written within a decade of each other yet represent three distinct periods in the composer's life, the emotional span of the four works reflected in Schumann's all-too-short 46-year life span. Years of friendship have sealed a deep bond between the members of the Horszowski Trio, which in turn has led to performances of exhilarating expressive freedom. Grammy-nominated violinist Jesse Mills first performed with Raman Ramakrishnan, founding cellist of the award-winning Daedalus Quartet, when they were children at the Vermont-based Kinhaven Music School. Years later they met pianist Rieko Aizawa who was the last student of the trio's namesake, the late, legendary pianist, Mieczyslaw Horszowski. Since their debut in 2011 at New York City's Rockefeller University, the Horszowski Trio has performed throughout North America, Asia, and India. The programmes on the trio's extensive 2019 touring schedule, which include a Wigmore Hall debut, feature Schumann's expansive works. Based in New York City, the Horszowski Trio is Artists-in Residence at the Longy School of Music of Bard College.

In 2005 Helene Kenyeri, oboe, Mirjam Schiestl, clarinet and Marion Biber-Janda, bassoon came together to form the ensemble Trio Mignon Vienna. This special kind of ensemble first established itself as independent chamber music formation in France at the beginning of the 20th century, when renowned composers such as Henri Tomasi, Eugene Bozza and Jean Francaix, whose works are featured on this album, wrote for this special cast. Besides arrangements of Baroque and Renaissance repertoire, another focal point of the young musicians' artistic work constitutes contemporary music by (Austrian) composers such as Thomas Heinisch and Helmut H�dl, whose works also appear on this album. Above all, it is the passion for the beautiful, enchanting and inspiring sound of this combination of instruments that from the start provided impulses to the ensemble for conveying music to the young and elderly.

Under the title I vanni occulti, ensemble Al Ayre Espanol, led by maestro Eduardo Lopez Banzo offers us it's personal vision of Handel's Sonatas Op. 2. The phrase comes from the oratorio Il trionfo del tempo e del disinganno (The Triumph of Time and Dillusion, 1707). The reference to this aria is not anecdotal, because Sonata No. 1 in this Op. 2 contains references to this music- an aspect that, hardly surprisingly, constitutes a characteristic element of the composition technique of the maestro from Halle. Over the course of his life, Handel composed 20 trio sonatas, 12 of which were published in London in two different collections: six sonatas were published in 1733 as Op. 2 and another seven printed in 1739 as Op. 5. In a disguised allusion to the vanitas allegory and the fleeting passage of time, Al Ayre Espanol presents, just three years after it's recording of Op. 5, an introspective version of Op. 2, which completes and, at the same time, complements the group's first rendition of Handel's trio sonatas. The two recordings form a single project that offers the listener a passionate and impassioned, southern and Mediterranean version of this exquisite chamber music. This version is marked by the emergence, with particular expressive intensity, of the two aesthetic poles present in the chamber music universe of Handel: the most contained lyricism combined with the most explosive fury.

This album features a new arrangement for harpsichord and guitar of Bach's six trio Sonatas for organ BWV 525-530. Extravagantia duo, two talented and learned young musicians, takes the challenge to confront themselves with Bach's organ masterpieces with a new and fresh approach which aims to explore from an unusual perspective a piece of traditional repertoire. Luigi Accardo and Francesco Molmenti dig deeply into Bach's historical background and create a musical language of their own. Francesco Molmenti began studying guitar at age 11. He went on to earn his diploma at the Conservatory of Trieste in 2003. He has won several national and international competitions since. Currently, he performs as a soloist, with the Res Intimae guitar trio, and the present ensemble, the Extravagantia Duo. Luigi Accardo was born in Cagliari. He graduated in Piano from the Conservatory of Cagliari and in Harpsichord from the Conservatory of Piacenza.

Johann Sebastian Bach has always been considered one of the greatest music transcribers of all times. Many of his transcriptions (mostly the ones from Italian composers Vivaldi and Marcello) have become instant classics, and they are still viewed as masterpieces of the baroque repertoire. Bach has always been very active as a transcriber of his own music too. His masterful transcription of his Sonata for viola da gamba & keyboard No. 1, which he transformed into a trio for two flutes and continuo, has given the inspiration for this project. Tripla Concordia and Walter van Hauwe decided to transcribe even the other two Gamba Sonatas as Trio Sonatas, walking in Bach footsteps. In doing so, the members of the ensemble actually fulfilled their desire of offering a new listening experience of this set of sonatas, with fresh colors and textures. Tripla Concordia sincerely hopes that those new versions will cast a new light on these works, thus giving the listener the opportunity of discovering new details and fresh instrumental combinations. Transcriptions of other two Bach masterpieces, the Organ Sonata No. 3 (transcription by Sour Cream) and the Partita for Lute BWV 997, complete the recording.

David Oistrakh Trio is an unofficial name for the trio organized in 1940 by David Oistrach with his long-time accompanist Lev Oborin (piano) and Sviatoslav Knushevitsky (cello). The ensemble of Moscow Conservatory professors had been performing until Knushevitsky passed away in 1963. Some critics cited the group as one of the greatest piano trios in the history and compared them with a legendary Alfred Cortot - Jacques Thibaud - Pablo Casals 1920-30s ensemble. The group recorded numerous Trios and Triple Concertos by Beethoven, Brahms, Rachmaninoff, Schubert, and Shostakovich for Columbia, Melodiya, Angel Records, Preiser Records and other labels. David Oistrakh Trio also collaborated with Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Sir Malcolm Sargent. On this release, Urania Records presents recordings of Russian chamber masterpieces, made between the years 1950 and 1958.

The EXTEMPORE ensemble consists of three experienced and versatile artists involved in the historical performance of early music: violinist Malgorzata Malke, harpsichordist and organist Anna Firlus, and Krzysztof Firlus playing viola da gamba. The passion for chamber music, early music, and discovering the unknown prompted them to establish an ensemble in 2007, when they were still students of the Academy of Music in Katowice. Georg Philipp Telemann, traditionally a slightly underrated master of Baroque music, exceptionally well corresponds to the musical temperament of the ensemble. The album includes Telemann's trio sonatas and solo works, two of which are in a way "new" - compositions only a few years ago considered to be missing - arranged for the EXTEMPORE ensemble.

Cellist Brian Thornton is joined by pianist Spencer Myer and clarinetist Afendi Yusuf in a program of chamber music on the Steinway & Sons label. An impeccable performance of Debussy's striking Cello Sonata is followed by the lovely Clarinet Trio by Brahms. Brian Thornton is a multi-faceted musician who has touched the lives of thousands of people through musical outreach programs around the world. Mr. Thornton began playing the cello in the public school system of Chicago, giving him a passion for teaching young musicians and public school outreach programs. He has traveled all over the world influencing young musicians not only to play better cello, but to use music to positively affect the world around them. Gold Medalist of the 2008 New Orleans Piano Competition, Spencer Myer has been soloist with the Cleveland Orchestra, the Indianapolis Symphony, the Cape Town and Johannesburg Philharmonics, and Beijing's China National Symphony Orchestra. His 2005 recital/orchestral tour of South Africa included a performance of the five piano concerto of Beethoven with the Chamber Orchestra of South Africa. Afendi Yusuf joined the Cleveland Orchestra as principal clarinet in the 2017-18 season. Born in Ethiopia, he has appeared as guest principal with a number of orchestras across the globe.

The chamber music of Anton Arensky (1861-1906) embodies a happy and inspired synthesis of two contrasting sound-worlds: the peculiarly Russian language of Rimsky-Korsakov and the ‘Mighty Handful’, and that of Western-European accents exemplified in the sphere of chamber music by Brahms, but filtered through Tchaikovsky’s West-leaning approach. It’s Mendelssohn who comes to mind in the vernal surge of energy that opens the First Piano Trio which is Arensky’s best-known work beyond his piano music. The sombre third-movement elegy is a tribute to the cellist Davidoff, and accordingly opens with a soulful cello melody, before an impassioned finale banishes all introspection. Composed over a decade later in 1905, the Second Trio replaces such youthful energy for a more concise and refined harmonic idiom that even brings to mind Gabriel Fauré at points such as the polished, elusive second-movement Romance. After a delightfully capricious Scherzo full of subtle rhythmic shifts and conversational hesitations, the Second Trio concludes with an expansive set of variations on a noble theme in Tchaikovskian vein. Formed in 2016, the Carducci Trio has already won praise for its accomplished performances of Russian music in particular, having recently made a tour of China and given London performances at the Royal Albert Hall (Elgar Room) and Academy of St Martin in the Fields. This is the Trio’s debut recording.

With the piano trios by Zemlinsky and Korngold (from 1896 and 1909/10) recorded on this production, the three passionate chamber musicians of the Stefan Zweig Trio bring together compositions that offer both a retrospective and an outlook on their time of origin. The Vienna-based Stefan Zweig Trio was established in 2012, and unites three passionate chamber musicians with a broad range of experience. The members of the Trio are graduates of the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna and the Paris Conservatoire, and are laureates of major competitions including ARD, Sendai, and the Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition. They made their Wigmore Hall debut in January 2015. The ensemble is a member of the European Chamber Music Academy (ECMA) and enjoys regular artistic guidance from notable musicians such as Johannes Meissl, Avedis Kouyoumdjian, Hatto Beyerle and Miguel Da Silva.

In Juon's piano trio we plunge into the most profound recesses of the soul. Everything acquires existential significance. This is where our performers find a bridge that connects Juon's kaleidoscopic tone poem with Pjotr Tchaikovsky's colossal Piano Trio, op. 50, a musical epitaph for pianist and conductor Nikolai Rubinstein, who had been Tchaikovsky's friend and mentor. Rubenstein had ensured that the young Tchaikovsky was allowed to enter the newly founded Moscow Conservatory while taking him up as a resident in his own home. "He looked after my every need like a child's nurse," Tchaikovsky wrote. Rubinstein not only made sure that Tchaikovsky wore appropriately elegant clothing, but he took him to the opera and to concerts while introducing him to his circle of colleagues and friends, playing out his connections to draw their attention to his prot�g�'s compositions. His unexpected passing in 1881 must have profoundly shattered the young Tchaikovsky, who dedicated the only piano trio he ever wrote to his late friend, adding the subtitle 'A la memoire d'un grand artiste.' The work consists of two monumental, thematically related movements. Beginning with a heartfelt cello cantilena, the first one is an extensive elegy or Pezzo elegiac: an immense variety of musical ideas flow together in this sonata form with exposition, development, and reprise. The second movement consists in a seemingly endless set of variations. Today, the work is regarded as one of the milestones in the genre of chamber music with piano.