Tchaikovsky's Piano Trio, a work that is both elegiac and virtuosic, sets the tone of this recording. Dedicated to his friend Nikolay Rubinstein with the French epigraph "A la memoire d'un grand artiste," it shows great originality in it's dimensions and style. A similarly ambitious work is Arensky's Trio Op.32, which is also dedicated to the memory of a musician - the cellist Karl Davidov (1838-89). This gem of chamber music, much less often played, constitutes the true discovery of this program, which features the celebrated French ensemble Trio Wanderer.