The Florestan Trio - Debussy, Fauré & Ravel: Piano Trios (1999/2024)

The three trios on this disc are the work of, respectively, a teenager, a nearly-forty-year-old and a seventy-seven-year-old. So it's understandable not only that the difference in musical language is even greater than the composers' names might suggest, but that each may be heard as having a different significance within its composer's oeuvre.

To modern ears the Debussy trio appears to be nothing like the mature Debussy we know, but more like Delibes. Although maybe no more than salon music, it gives immediate pleasure If this Trio shows us a young composer in search of his technique, Ravel's trio shows us a middle-aged one exulting in his. A wonderfully written piano trio which in the hands of The Florestan Trio shows a work of true magic. Likewise the Fauré—a trio written at the end of his life and showing the profound and austere characteristics of his last works.

Tracklist
01 - Piano Trio in D Minor, Op. 120: I. Allegro, ma non troppo
02 - Piano Trio in D Minor, Op. 120: II. Andantino
03 - Piano Trio in D Minor, Op. 120: III. Allegro vivo
04 - Piano Trio in G Major, CD 5: I. Andantino con moto – Allegro appassionato
05 - Piano Trio in G Major, CD 5: II. Scherzo – Intermezzo. Moderato con allegro
06 - Piano Trio in G Major, CD 5: III. Andante espressivo
07 - Piano Trio in G Major, CD 5: IV. Finale. Appassionato
08 - Piano Trio in A Minor, M. 67: I. Modéré
09 - Piano Trio in A Minor, M. 67: II. Pantoum. Assez vif
10 - Piano Trio in A Minor, M. 67: III. Passacaille. Très large
11 - Piano Trio in A Minor, M. 67: IV. Final. Animé