We don't hear the ambitious chamber music here, as we are used to from or . Almost the entire CD is bathed in an atmosphere of melancholy, with a morbid accent here and there. At least three of the four piano trios (namely those of Rachmaninov and Grieg) belong to the category of youth works. For example, Rachmaninov composed both his piano trios in 1892 and 1893 respectively, when his mature
… style had not yet developed. Nevertheless, they breathe the spirit of the later master. In that respect, these 'elegiac trios' are indeed representative of the later oeuvre. By the way, the second trio was an 'in memoriam' for , who had once said something kind about the achievements of the young Rachmaninov. Suk's Elegie op.23 was also an 'in memoriam', namely for the Czech writer Julius Zeyer. Grieg's beautiful Andante con moto is the only elaborated part of what should have become a large-scale piano trio. (HJ)more