In the recent past, Trio Parnassus has graced MDG’s burgeoning chamber music catalog with complete piano trio cycles ranging from the familiar (Schumann and Brahms) to the unjustly neglected (Max Reger and Woldemar Bargiel). Here the group embarks on a Beethoven cycle with the composer’s first two Op. 1 trios. While the music often reflects Haydn’s influential shadow, it already contains those sudden dynamic surges, unpredictable accents, and the aching lyricism that characterize Beethoven’s expressive essence. The Trio Parnassus stresses the music’s classicism and logic over its combative elements, scaling its collective sonority down to period-instrument size. The piano is too recessed in the mix for my taste, yet the ensuing “pingy” fortepiano-like tone blends well with the strings. However, the slow movements reach higher emotional peaks in the Vienna Piano Trio’s wider palette of nuance and inflection. The latter ensemble also takes the G major trio’s Finale for a brisker, more dangerous romp. With the demise of Nimbus I fear that the Vienna Trio’s Beethoven cycle is temporarily stalled at the halfway mark. Meantime, if you desire these specific works coupled on a single disc, I refer you to the splendidly played Abegg Trio version on Tacet, with the present release as a more than worthy backup.
