Beaux Arts Trio Mozart

Long recognized as the leading piano trio in a competitive field, the Beaux Arts Trio is known for precise, straightforward performances and recordings of everything in the standard Central European trio literature.

Founded over 60 years ago by Menahem Pressler, Daniel Guilet and Bernard Greenhouse, the Beaux Arts Trio performed and recorded exclusively for Philips Classics until 1995. Through the years, the Trio has maintained its freshness and preserved its distinctive musical heritage while the membership has changed. The Beaux Arts Trio is considered by many as having set the standard for performance of piano trio literature for all future generations. These three boxes offer a more accessible way to enjoy their complete cycles of Beethoven, Mozart and Haydn piano trios, previously collected together in Decca’s 60-CD Complete Philips Recordings.

Mozart wrote a plethera of fine chamber music in the galante style of the classical era: Quintets for various instruments, string quartets, string trios, string duos, piano trios, violin sonatas and the two magnificent piano quartets here. With these two quartets, Mozart more-or-less invented the genre which was later taken up by Schumann, Brahms and Dvorak. These piano quartets show Mozart in both a dramatic mode in the minor work and a typical merry mood in the major piece.

Thoughtful, sensitive playing in slow movements, lively tempi in allegros, characteristic musicianship plus spontaneity combine to make these recordings highly recommendable throughout…

Founded 60 years ago by Menahem Pressler, Daniel Guilet and Bernard Greenhouse, the Beaux Arts Trio performed and recorded exclusively for Philips Classics until 1995. Celebrated for their outstanding chamber-music qualities, the Beaux Arts are one of the greatest ensembles in the history of recorded music. This special 60CD box set includes their extensive discography on Philips Classics and encompasses almost the entire piano trio literature.

In 2006, to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's birth plus the 30th anniversary of Anne-Sophie Mutter's public debut, Deutsche Grammophon released new recordings of the German violinist in all the Austrian composer's major works featuring her instrument. To celebrate Mutter's undeniable beauty, each body of works was released with a different photograph of Mutter on the cover: the set of concertos had Mutter poured into a stunning bottle green mermaid gown, the set of sonatas had Mutter wrapped in a shimmering golden yellow strapless gown, and this set of the piano trios has Mutter's wonderfully made-up face and marvelously coifed hair in close-up.