Dvorák - Piano Trios Op 65 & 90

The Guardian 80

Trio Wanderer
(Harmonia Mundi)

The Trio Wanderer, now 30 years old, sounds as sparkling and zestful as ever in Dvorák’s infectious “Dumky” trio, Op 90, truly a work to lift spirits, though not without melancholy. The last of the composer’s works for the medium, it bursts with Slavonic dance rhythms and lyrical folk melody, wonderfully captured by this incisive French ensemble. The Op 65 trio is less well known but deserving of attention. The passionate, big-boned style of its opening Allegro brings to mind the style of Dvorák’s great friend, Brahms, though the Scherzo returns to more familiar, springy Dvorák terrain and the energetic finale could be by no other composer. This is virtuosic playing of a high order.