Mozart’s piano trios tend to be the stepchildren of his chamber output. In part, that’s a reflection of the superiority of his other works, but it also suggests that the intrinsic interest of these domesticated pieces can be limited. The three collected here date from a particularly fecund period of Mozart’s life–the G major written just after The Marriage of Figaro, the other two in the summer of 1788 while he worked on his last symphonies.
The earliest of these three, the genial G major, has a showy violin part, but the piano also is favored with some savory moments, including an extended solo that’s played with fluent elegance by Ivan Klansky. Marek Jerie’s cello subtly makes itself felt without violating the delicate balances in the first movement. The players let us hear the grave beauty of the Andante, whose rich counterpoint signals the development of greater equality among the parts in trio writing–and in the final Allegretto, a theme and variations movement, the Guarneris adopt a relaxed manner that drives home its amiable nature.
The E major finds the three players on a more even footing: the first movement’s contrapuntal web is woven with a fine sense of rhythmic timing, while the Andante grazioso features lovingly sung violin solos that turn spunky in the final Allegro. The last of the three trios on the disc, the C major, is less of a charmer than its predecessors, but it’s still a work of interest with its martial unison opening motif and a witty passage recalling Figaro’s “Non piu ‘andrai”.
The Guarneri Trio Prague (no relation to the American Guarneri Quartet) is made up of three prominent soloists and they play with expressive warmth that suits these pieces well. Klansky’s pianism here may not challenge Menahem Pressler’s in the old Beaux Arts Trio’s Mozart set, but it has all the pearly grace the pieces need, while Cenek Pavlík’s violin, in ensembles and solos, is neatly phrased.
It may be carping but I’d have preferred just a bit more bite to the faster movements, even though the interpretations are all of a piece and the slow movements are paced well, with just enough flow and no excessive wallowing. The engineering is fine, but I found the CD layer more pleasing to the ears since it eliminated the slight hardness in Pavlík’s violin timbre and its treble overtones heard in SACD stereo. Of course, the multichannel SACD layer may correct that.
