This diverse programme of works for guitar trio is bound by the common thread of music inspired by stories from literature, stage or screen. With it's rhythmic exuberance and tragic beauty, Bernstein's West Side Story has never lost it's freshness and relevance. Ensemble member Luca Isolani's Note fuori campo is a homage to the versatile Italian composer Nino Rota, who, like Manos Hadjidakis, first shot to international fame with an Oscar-winning film score. Ravel's Ma Mere l'Oye evokes the poetry of childhood with a refined expressiveness that makes it as popular and unforgettable as Grieg's music for Peer Gynt.

Christian Sinding is one of those unfortunate composers who owe their world fame to a single piece. Rustle of Spring immortalised his name and, despite it's brevity, overshadowed the rich oeuvre of the Norwegian, who was once considered the legitimate successor to Edvard Grieg. And this despite the fact that he did not rely on his country's folk music, but on the great genres of Central Europe, which he contributed to with four symphonies, three violin concertos and a great deal of chamber music. Among them are three elegant, expressive, artful, vividly orchestrated, and exceptionally beautiful piano trios, which with this release expand our already unrivalled Sinding catalogue. The Six Pieces for cello and piano are also of the highest quality. They form a precious, ultra-Romantic 'encore' that is also featured as a first recording here.

Ferdinand Ries occupies a remarkable place in the history of music. He was famously a friend and pupil of Beethoven and a virtuoso pianist. His extensive oeuvre opened up the musical aesthetics of Viennese Classicism to Romanticism. Completed in 1826, the Piano Trio in C minor, Op. 143 features two lively, fast movements surrounding a poetic Adagio, reminiscent of the era's finest opera arias. Very different is the Grand Trio in F minor, WoO 86. It features four thematically interwoven movements that traverse emotions from despair to passion and eventual peace.

On Trio Op. 97 'Archduke' - These musicians have been playing together for a while now, since they met at the Pablo Casals Prades Festival in 2009. In the 'Archduke' Trio there is well-padded playing, lush, warm-toned and full of delicacy: some of the interplay between the strings in the first movement is delightfully light and playful, particularly in the pizzicato passage. The opening of the scherzo has a similar dry delicacy and humour. The worming chromatic passage slithers inexorably into the joyful piano outburst. The opening of the Andante cantabile is a study in note placing, with the slightest touches of rubato and emphases: the two-note string lead into their first melody is itself a small joy. The movement floats along, light, airy and sublime. The finale is earthy, dramatic and elegant. Tim Homfray, The Strad

Joseph Franz Weigl, the father of our composer, was the principal cellist in Prince Esterhazy's orchestra, thus serving under the kapellmeister Joseph Haydn, who was the godfather at the son's baptism in 1766 and likely had a hand in the boy's musical education. Weigl junior was taught by Johann Georg Albrechtsberger and Antonio Salieri, under whose guidance he flourished. He assisted Mozart with the premieres of�Figaro,�Cos� fan tutte, and�Don Giovanni, partly conducting subsequent performances of these works and getting an early taste of the theater world. His own operas and singspiels were successful, benefiting from his enviable melodic talent. Listen to the six delightful trios for oboe, violin, and cello assembled here, which, as light-hearted interludes, provide exquisite entertainment from the first to the last measure. Indeed, such mastery is something to aspire to!

The value of such arrangements is that they allow a wider perception into a composer's compositional processes, and which have the potential for presenting new insights and different characteristics to particular pieces of music, which might not be evident in the originals. Hence these arrangements extend a practice that was normal in the early eighteenth century, and in this recording they are played on instruments with which Bach would have been entirely familiar. What revelations they reveal! David Ponsford

Heinrich Marschner's role as Germany's leading Romantic operatic composer in the generation between Weber and Wagner has tended to draw attention away from his accomplished chamber compositions. Marschner had a high regard for the piano trio genre, composing seven throughout his career, which won the admiration of his friends Robert and Clara Schumann. The Trio No. 1 in A minor is profusely lyrical and not without surprises and contrasts. Written three decades later, the Trio No. 7 in F major is a work of his maturity - assured, dramatic and energetic.

After listening to a substantial number of operas, cantatas, concertos, and chamber music left by the immensely prolific Georg Philipp Telemann, one might assume there would soon be nothing new to discover. This is far from the truth, as demonstrated by the latest production from Camerata Koln and it's director, Michael Schneider. The "Six Quatuors ou Trios 1733" are not merely a continuation of Telemann's Concerti da camera. They differ significantly: polyphonic, chromatic quirks, delicate cantilenas, highly virtuosic (and expertly executed) miniatures, and finally, a series of ancient women's portraits in the contemporary colors of the "Getreue Music-Meister" - if anything is repeated here, it is the amazement at an almost limitless, inexhaustible imagination.

With light-hearted ease, Chimaera Trio immerse themselves in a fairytale world of goblins, elves, ghosts and mythical creatures. Reflecting much more than just intimate friendships and family ties, these trios by Mendelssohn, his close friend and esteemed colleague Niels Wilhelm Gade and his brother-in-law Emil Hartmann expand into an almost infinite cosmos of Nordic-romantic myths and legends in which everything is interwoven with everything else.

A rather unique piano trio The repertoire for piano trios is plentiful and varied. Composers such as Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Ludwig van Beethoven preferred to write for piano, violin, and cello. The repertoire for the combination of piano and two saxophones is rather limited in comparison. This is mainly to do with the fact that the instrument was first developed around 1840 by Antoine Joseph Sax, who opened a workshop in Paris in 1842 and built saxophones in seven different sizes. His patron, Hector Berlioz, was one of the first to incorporate the instrument into his orchestral compositions, and Jules Massenet used it prominently in his opera Werther in 1892, but the saxophone became more popular in French military music and, of course, in jazz, where it has been used as a solo instrument since around 1920.

HORN TRIOS from MOZART to PIAZZOLLA and beyond (Volume 1) is the first installment of a 2-volume compendium of horn trios from the 18th, 19th, 20th and 21st centuries - an amazing "anthology" of original and arranged repertoire for the trio ensemble of horn, violin and piano. This is not the kind of recording project consisting of the obligatory Brahms Trio Op. 40 in the company of two or three other much-recorded works. Presenting a 4-centuries double-disc album with just this First Volume, the artists explore a strikingly-interesting collection of diverse styles and genres, where even the sheer number of different nationalities of the composers (from 12 different countries) brings instant awe. Yes, the Brahms Horn Trio is included, as well as works by Mozart and Piazzolla (as the album's title proclaims), but we also hear trios by composers from the United States, Canada, England, France, Liechtenstein, Estonia, Romania, Bulgaria and Morocco. Presenting no less than 8 world-premiere recordings in just this Volume 1, the album brims with rarities and contrasts, showcasing many works written specifically for these artists. Hornist Howard Wall, whose storied career includes not just his legendary reputation as a long-time member of two of America's most prestigious orchestras - The New York Philharmonic and The Philadelphia Orchestra, but has also produced an impressive discography of chamber and solo discs, brings a symphonic dimension to his own arrangement of Piazzolla's "Oblivion", and an excitingly speedy rendition of the Brahms Trio, as well as breathtaking interpretations of all other works. Violinist Elmira Darvarova is equally "at home" in Mozart (as a former concertmaster of The Metropolitan Opera, where she accompanied the world's greatest singers in a multitude of Mozart operas) and in Piazzolla (having attained a Grammy nomination for one of her many Piazzolla albums), as well as everywhere else, possessing not just an incredibly strong and full tone, but also a magnificent level of sensitivity which fascinates with the limitless range of dynamics and sophisticated phrasing. Pianist Thomas Weaver, whose own horn trio mesmerizes with atmospheric moods (and is narrated by himself, reading Edgar Allan Poe's Stanzas) and whose translucently textured playing has been hailed for his recent album of Hungarian composers recorded together with Elmira Darvarova), shines in each piece with sublime virtuosity and fierce artistic commitment. This is a "not to be missed" album release, anticipating the upcoming Volume 2 which will conclude this terrific project.

Wolf-Ferrari was a composer of great artistic merit, Italian by nationality but raised in Germany, unfairly forgotten and deserving of rediscovery. His works meld compositional and spiritual elements with a preference for melodic purity and smooth harmonies, a passion for clear and linear forms inspired by Classical-era Vienna, and a meticulous approach. His aversion to complexity and his love of clarity and simplicity - as far removed from the operatic verismo movement as from the experiments of the avant-garde - meant he was, in a certain sense, an isolated figure, yet he knew that, despite the nostalgia in his writing, he had his own vibrant and original voice. His writing for strings displays expert compositional technique and a thorough technical knowledge of the instruments. The youthful String Trio in B minor and the related String Trio in C minor are edited by Luca Incerti based on the manuscript held at the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek in Munich (Mus. Ms. 21366). The first trio is divided into three movements: Allegro, Larghetto and Scherzo (Allegro vivace). The second trio reuses the opening Allegro (raised to C minor) and Larghetto, adding a different ending in two new movements: Scherzo: Allegro molto and Adagio molto. The String Trio in A minor (Op.32) is divided into three movements - Allegro moderato, Pastorale (Andante tranquillo) and Allegro - and was written in 1945, during the composer's mature period. The String Quartet in A minor was composed in 1894 and has also been edited by Luca Incerti, based on another manuscript held in Munich (Mus. Ms. 23144-2). It comprises four movements: Allegro moderato, Adagio non troppo, Allegro vivacissimo and Allegro assai. The String Quartet in E minor is likewise split into four movements - Allegro, Andante cantabile, Capriccio (Allegro pesante) and Allegro - but it's date of composition is unknown. However, by contrast it certainly stems from Wolf-Ferrari's later years, when all the composer's unique artistic traits came to the fore. As this quartet makes clear, in the context of the early 20th-century avant-garde, Wolf-Ferrari provided an alluring return to Classicism, but it was his own personal interpretation of the style, rather than an attempt to restore it. His neoclassicism appears more modern today than it would have done to his contemporaries. The String Quintet (2 violas) in C is recorded from another Luca Incerti edition, based on individual parts published by Thomi-Berg. It was written in 1942 and therefore belongs to the composer's mature period. It has four movements: Allegro assai quasi presto, Larghetto, Prestissimo, and Molto mosso alla breve.

The six trio sonatas recorded on this CD present the largest group of Zelenka's chamber music for a single ensemble. Despite their high quality they were forgotten for centuries; they were only rediscovered a few decades ago.�Our fascination for this rich and profound music has spurred us on to come closer on this CD to the special tonal language, evocative complexity, and audacious invention of Zelenka's music.

Bach's trio sonatas, once written as teaching pieces for his eldest son Wilhelm Friedemann, show Johann Sebastian Bach at the zenith of his compositional art: three independent voices engage in a captivating dialogue, combining cantabile melodic lines with an artful yet natural-sounding counterpoint - all embedded in an experimental formal design and balanced proportions. Martin Neu makes this core repertoire his own with his lively and eloquent interpretation on the Ahrend organ in Herzogenaurach. The unusual directness and proximity to the pipework of the organ, combined with the excellent acoustic conditions, create a unique sound experience. For the first time, this is also available immersively in Dolby Atmos - a sonic innovation that allows the music to be experienced with unprecedented intensity.

With 37 confirmed trio sonatas to his credit, Giuseppe Tartini is the most important Italian composer of his generation for this type of repertoire. It may seem odd therefore that these works have been so sorely neglected; indeed, as of 2022 only around 20 per cent of the repertoire had been recorded and a critical edition had yet to be published. This state of affairs was largely due to confusion regarding sources, with many divergent interpretations and uncertainties regarding the dates of the handwritten scores. Some order has been brought to this originally chaotic situation by the research carried out by Juan Mariano Porta from 2018 to 2022 as part of his doctoral studies, the result of which was the inclusion of the trio sonatas in the upcoming publications of the Edizione Nazionale delle Opere di Giuseppe Tartini, with advance materials made available to the Il Demetrio ensemble for recording. Giuseppe Tartini dedicated almost all his energy to his chosen instrument, the violin. His established corpus of works currently numbers 200 sonatas for violin and bass, 150 violin concertos, 37 trio sonatas, a handful of concertos for other instruments, and a small number of quartet sonatas and vocal compositions. Production of the trio sonatas began in the composer's late-mature years, and their style would seem to correspond to Tartini's final compositional period, described as a Drang nach absoluter Musik [urge for absolute music], which began around 1750 without a clear line of demarcation from what came before and continued until the composer's death. The trend was towards simplicity, partly deriving from Tartini's desire to put his theoretical speculations into practice. The trio sonatas no longer feature the virtuoso passages of earlier works. They present a binary form with regular phrasing. Their harmonic rhythm is slow, with the violins mainly proceeding in parallel triplets. The function of the bass is relegated one of harmonic support. This recording contains the sonatas G1, D1, d1 A1, A2, A3, A6, and a1, which date to Tartini's final compositional sub-period. They are little-known pieces, most of them hitherto unpublished.