Prompted by a commission from a London publisher, Haydn took up the
composition of piano trios, that is, sonatas for keyboard accompanied by
violin and cello, on a grand scale in 1784.
By that time, piano trios had become extremely popular with ‘amateurs’
(Liebhaber) – non-professionals from the aristocracy and the upper
bourgeoisie – and their composition promised financial success. The
piano carries the main burden of the compositional substance in these
works and always forms the centre of the instrumental texture, around
which the violin and cello are grouped. The tasks assigned to the
stringed instruments are less structural than colouristic, although
Haydn frequently allows the violin to break free from the piano part,
entrusting it with independent ideas and sometimes allowing it to engage
in dialogue with the piano.
Since forming in the late ’80s, Trio Wanderer have—with only one change
of personnel—become one of the finest piano trios on the concert
circuit. Surprisingly, they’ve recorded little Haydn, so this album is
very welcome. The French trio have a lovely spring in their musical step
and Haydn suits them to perfection. Fast movements flash past in a
spirit of sheer delight while the slower ones are savored but never
milked, and their tightly focused, well-balanced sound and restrained
use of vibrato is very attractive.
gracias !
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