Trio Methral

The 1970s were heady years indeed for the Haydn collector, with complete recorded cycles of the symphonies, quartets and keyboard works and the first-ever recordings of many of the operas. Attracting less immediate attention than these boxed sets were the activities of the Beaux Arts Trio who, proceeding by stealth with one disc at a time, recorded Haydn's complete piano trios between 1970 and 1978.

Canada's foremost piano trio, the Gryphon Trio, has a reputation for offering richly detailed performances and excellent ensemble work. This nine-disc set represents not only much of their best work, but also much of the best of the piano trio repertoire. There are six of Mozart's trios; all of Schubert's and Shostakovich's works in the genre; and highlights of Beethoven's, including the three Op. 1 trios, the Archduke and the Ghost trios, and the Op. 11 trio originally for clarinet, cello, and piano.

Swept along by the spirit of the day, Romantic chamber music came to be defined by an increasingly important role of the piano within the ensemble: the reign of the string quartet was eventually brought to an end, making way in particular for the piano trio with violin and cello. Throughout the Romantic repertoire, many works bear witness to the richness of this genre. The Second Piano Trio, Op.26 by Felix Mendelssohn and the Third Trio, Op.26 by Edouard Lalo are of course only two examples of the genre, but undeniably splendid specimens, brought to light in this recording.