[Cover graphic]

Compact Disc CDA67556

£13.99

The piano trio had thrived as a genre suited to amateur music-making in eighteenth-century parlours, but it was only when Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart turned his hand to the medium that it was transformed into the ‘art form’ we know today. Emerging from the home into the concert hall, piano parts became significantly taxing (Mozart wrote them for himself to play) and the violin and cello were elevated from accompanying roles to positions of equal prominence.

The three trios on this disc were written at the zenith of Mozart’s powers, K502 in 1786, K542 and K564 in the second half of 1788. All three are masterpieces, a sense of profound musical thought ever-present beneath their tranquil exteriors.

Performances by The Florestan Trio are every bit as committed and polished as we have come to expect from their many previous acclaimed recordings.

Recorded in Henry Wood Hall, London, on 15–17 May 2005
Recording Engineer
SIMON EADON
Recording Producer
ANDREW KEENER
Piano
STEINWAY & SONS
Front Picture Research
RICHARD HOWARD
Booklet Editor
TIM PARRY
Executive Producer
SIMON PERRY
© Hyperion Records Ltd, London, MMVI

Duration: 59'01
DDD
Front illustration: Conversation in a Park attributed to Jean-Baptiste Joseph Pater (1695–1736)

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (1756-1791)

Piano Trios K502, K542, K564

THE FLORESTAN TRIO
ANTHONY MARWOOD violin
RICHARD LESTER cello
SUSAN TOMES piano

Contents:

    Piano Trio in B flat major K502   [21'44]
  1. Allegro   [8'27]
  2. Larghetto   [7'04]
  3. Allegretto   [6'09]

    Piano Trio in E major K542   [18'41]

  4. Allegro   [7'28]
  5. Andante grazioso   [4'19]
  6. Allegro   [6'47]

    Piano Trio in G major K564   [18'18]

  7. Allegro   [7'44]
  8. Andante   [5'52]
  9. Allegretto   [4'37]
Sleeve Notes

'Susan Tomes’s sprightly piano is in its element, leading the dance in these three mature trios … Moods change at a flick of Mozart’s wrist, and Tomes, Anthony Marwood and Richard Lester have all the flexibility needed' (The Times)

'These are beautifully judged performances, generally fleeter of foot, airier of texture and more intimate in tone with an ideal balance between the instruments' (Gramophone)

'Superb execution … another feather in the Florestan Trio's cap' (International Record Review)

'As in all their artistic endeavours, this outstanding disc of Mozart piano trios from the acclaimed Florestan Trio demonstrates a delightfully unforced lyricism coupled with the most exquisite, long-lined phrasing … Sample the luminous performance of the central Andante grazioso of the E major trio K.542 to hear chamber music playing of the very highest order' (HMV Choice)

'the Florestan Trio's accounts of the Third, Fourth, and Sixth trios set reference standards for stylish perception, textural transparency, and the kind of sophisticated articulation and motivic interplay that may be preplanned, yet never seems intellectualized...Hyperion's clear, full-bodied, and impeccably-balanced engineering deserves its own rave review.' (Classicstoday.com)

'The Florestan Trio makes this lovely music shimmer with dazzling facility. These are seasoned Mozart interpretations of high order' (Audiophile Ausition) 'The Florestan Trio, whose recording of Mozart Piano Trios prove an unmitigated delight.' (Secrets)

'A delight ... Its virtues, of course, were no surprise. Susan Tomes' Mozartian credentials were richly established with her 2004 recording of the Piano Concertos K413-415 on Hyperion CDA67358 ... Performances as fine as anything ever released of these enchanting works. She is a pianist, and artist, of the front rank' (Piano Magazine)

'The Florestan Trio, with pianist Susan Tomes at her moist beguiling, give a scintillating account of three mature Mozart piano trios on this disc … Whatever the technical intensity of the constituent roles Mozart demands of them, Antony Marwood and Richard Lester are well aware of how to make the best of their contributions. This is musical team-work of a very high order' (The Magazine of the Cambridge Society)

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