The great Romantic-era pianist composer-virtuosos -- Chopin and Liszt -- wrote little in the way of literature that did not place their own instrument at the forefront. Chopin, in particular, wrote almost exclusively for his own instrument. Yet somehow these composers (and Rachmaninov some years later) were drawn to the piano trio genre. For Chopin, the chamber music allure came when he was a young man of 20. His G minor piano trio is a work of surprising beauty and optimism considering the bleak key, and while the piano certainly plays a central role, Chopin does not exclude the string instruments from the limelight. For Liszt, the inclusion of piano and strings came very late in life in the form of a transcription a portion of his "Years of Pilgrimage." Contrasting sharply with Chopin, La Vallée d'Obermann is a bleak, stark, dismal work, heard here in an adaptation by the Trio Chausson. In both cases, the trio does a brilliant job of capturing the emotional core of the music without overdramatizing. The Chopin, particularly, is played with far less rubato and sentimentality than is customarily heard; this results in a much more enjoyable interpretation that gives listeners precisely what is in the score. The playing is clean, articulate, nicely in tune, and well-balanced. Pianist Boris de Larochelambert deserves special praise for his playing that has not so much as a hint of overpedaling. The disc closes with the Trio Chausson's own transcription of the Chopin Op. 3 Introduction and Polonaise brillante. Though well played, the addition of the violin part seems an unnecessary component to the original virtuosic duo for cello and piano. © TiVo

Chopin and Franchomme’s collaboration and sincere friendship rested on a double understanding : they were linked both by a communion of feeling, so precious to the Polish exile in the Paris mondain of the time, and an artistic symbiosis that fed both on an affinity in the mastery of their instrument, and on the sharing of such basic musical values as authenticity, simplicity, elegance, and nobility of expression. Edoardo Torbianelli and Fernando Caida-Greco first played together in 2000 as a trio formation, with the violinist Amandine Beyer, within the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. Their collaboration led to a musical dialogue based on extensive research, with a particular focus on the Romantic repertoire, revisited in the light of the aesthetic and technical knowledge acquired over 20 years of research. © Paraty

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Hélène Jourdan Mourhange met Ravel for the first time after a concert in which she performed his Trio. She was an interesting, intelligent woman, well versed in the arts and culture of her time, and was a talented violinist who, however, had to stop playing years later due to rheumatoid arthritis. She then dedicated herself to musicology, reviews and other artistic activities. Not only that she was, like Lina Tur Bonet, a violin player, but also shared that same disease, which Lina Tur Bonet suffered in her youth. This has made her feel even closer to Ravel, and to feel a desire to make a tribute to Hélène by recording all the pieces written for her and thanks to her. The close friendship between the two lasted throughout the life of the composer and he often asked her for advice while composing his violin works. In their inexhaustible friendship he affectionately called her "Moune". Together with Maréchal, she premiered the Sonata for Violin and Cello (1921) dedicated to Claude Debussy, one of Ravel’s bravest compositions. Ravel also dedicated his Violin Sonata (1923-1927) to her, a work to which he devoted much energy and time, and in which he tried to combine two instruments that he actually considered incompatible. The first poetic movement is very similar to the first movements of the Duo and the Piano Trio, but the rest seems to have been more complicated for him, taking years to finish. Finally, he wrote a Blues as a second movement, and a Perpetuum mobile heavily influenced by the modern music they used to listen to on their long nights together in Paris. He also composed for Hélène the marvelous Berceuse sur le nome de Gabriel Fauré (1922), using the letters of his teacher's name turned into notes to build the simple and magical melody that she could still play. Although Ravel asked Hélène to bring him the violin and the 24 Paganini Capriccios as inspiration for the composition of the Tzigane (1924), and was helped by her again, this time the piece was dedicated to the Hungarian violinist Jelly d'Arányi. He wanted to make a virtuoso piece inspired on Paganini and Liszt, and probably Hélène, due to her illness, was no longer able to perform. He made three versions of the Tzigane, for the virtuoso violin accompanied by the piano, an orchestral version, and also the most unique, accompanied by the Luthéal, a prepared piano with registers of a harpsichord and the cymbal-like sound, with its wonderful gypsy and rhapsodic character. This tribute arrives for Lina Tur Bonet in a moment in which every work she performs is combined with a deep study of the performance of those times. This is why she chooses to record on gut strings, bows from that moment and a historical piano, as well as the less known version of the Tzigane with the Lutheal. The blending of gut strings between violin and cello, as well as with the old piano and the Lutheal is unique and helps to understand many of the aspects of performance in many old recordings. &copuy; Challenge Classics