This engaging and stylish collection brings together four of Haydn’s piano trios dedicated to two women he met in London: Rebecca Schroeter, for whom No. 39 (among others) was written, and Therese Jansen, the recipient of Nos. 43-45. Both women were pianists–Jansen was one of Clementi’s foremost students–and so the piano’s prominence in these works is no great surprise. But the Trio Wanderer (pianist Vincent Coq, violinist Jean-Marc Phillips-Varjabedian, and Raphael Pidoux) performs superbly as a team; it’s as if they were a single creature wielding three instruments. Their attacks have military precision, their rhythmic kicks are as precise as any Rockettes lineup, and each phrase is polished to its best shine. Their dazzling articulation, particularly in the bubbly presto finale of No. 43 and the meaty concluding Rondo of No. 39 (“In the Gypsies’ stile”) is a special pleasure. So what’s my reservation? All the slow movements whiz by at a steady clip–it’s as if the players were so afraid of dragging down the music’s overall high spirits that they decided it would be better to zip right on through. Even so, this recording is a delight, complemented by full and well balanced sonics.
