Auerbach Dvorak Weinberg Piano Trios Trio Zimbalist Curtis Studio

The Beaux Arts, late 1980s-style, is recognizably the same creature as it was at the start of the decade, or even two decades ago. The fingers of Menahem Pressler still twinkle away, the violin and cello exchange angst for mischief in volatile and ebullient alternation. The most obvious comparison for their latest release is the identical Dvorak/Mendelssohn coupling of 1980 on Pearl. Then Daniel Guilet was the violinist, and his comparatively small voice and old-style sweetness make their mark: this Dvorak is a small-scale, kid-glove performance, with the gentle acoustic recessing the violin even further and softening the high-spirited Dumka episodes.

Like a good wine, good music must also mature. Consciously or unconsciously, Trio Parnassus which was formed in 1982 has followed this maxim in the course of its almost 20-year history. Perfection, love of detail, a keen feeling for moods, and a taste for discovery is what distinguishes Yamei Yu {violin), Michael Gross (cello) and Chia Chou (piano). The reaction of the public and the critics was correspondingly enthusiastic in 1996 at the New York debut in the Great Performers Series at the Lincoln Center, in 1997 at the Masters Series at the London Wigmore Hall, and in 1999 at the National Gallery’s Chamber Music Series in Washington.

Excellence abounds when it comes to the Brahms Piano Trios on disc, especially considering recent versions from Nicholas Angelich and the Capuçons (Virgin), the Florestan Trio (Hyperion), and the Abegg Trio (Tacet). To these references we now can add the Trio Wanderer, who has thoroughly digested, internalized, and transcended these scores' technical and musical challenges. So many marvelous details transpire over the course of the performances that it is difficult to know where to begin.