COMPOSERS: Haydn
LABELS: Dorian
WORKS: Piano Trios Hob XV/12, 25, 27, 28
PERFORMER: Kalichstein–Laredo–Robinson Trio
CATALOGUE NO: DOR-90164 DDD
Haydn’s piano trios traditionally provide the amateur musician with music for a Sunday afternoon play-through, especially if a light-fingered pianist should be around. But this music is deceptive; apparently undemanding technically – at least by comparison with 19th-century repertory – it takes only a hint of overstatement to undermine it completely.
Fortunately, this disc, which includes four of Haydn’s relatively late trios (three of them written at the same time as the London symphonies) is almost entirely without blemish. The Kalichstein– Laredo–Robinson Trio combines three formidable soloists who came together in 1977. Joseph Kalichstein’s keyboard technique is impeccable, with a consistent evenness and lightness of touch that is simply breathtaking. Jaime Laredo, in the main sparkling in his performance, has a slight tendency to over-emphasis, although generally there is a marvellous sense of ebullience in the playing.
This disc includes the G major Trio (Hob XV/25) with its famous ‘Gypsy’ Rondo, but for collectors of ‘purple patches’, the E minor Allegretto of Hob XV/28 with its enigmatic chromatic theme in octaves will certainly surprise. A disc to treasure. Annette Morreau