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Review by canonical May 17, 2009 (11 of 12 found this review helpful)
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This 2-disc set has been a splendid double surprise for me.
The 9 Piano Trios included here are:
Piano Trio in F, Hob XV:2
Piano Trio in B flat, Hob XV:8
Piano Trio in F, Hob XV:6
Piano Trio in G, Hob XV:5
Piano Trio in E flat, Hob XV:10
Piano Trio in D, Hob XV:7
Piano Trio in A, Hob XV:9
Piano Trio in E minor, Hob XV:12
Piano Trio in E flat, Hob XV:11
* Surprise the first: fabulous pieces
I am not generally a Haydn fan - I find that his multitude of symphonies leave me generally uninspired ... and that the choral works tend towards being heavy-handed. And even though I have played the violin part in the Gypsy piano trio, I have never really gotten to know the Piano trios. But I had clearly ignored them to my own detriment .. they are wonderfully elegant pieces. The original Beaux Arts Trio (Menahem Pressler, Isidore Cohen and Bernard Greenhouse) are legends of the chamber music world ... and their performances here are everything you might hope for... and then more. Stylish, polished and simply superb.
* Surprise the second: fabulous sonics
The second surprise for me ... is how absolutely splendid the sonics are. Outrageously good! I can't believe how good. Absolutely delightful. Although originally recorded in 1976 - it sounds like it was recorded in DSD yesterday. It is clean, soooooooo pure, so live, natural and real ... and warm ... and everything a recording could ever be on my SACD stereo set-up. I tried listening to the redbook layer too, just out of interest, and it was comparatively drab, digital and dross. I can't believe the difference the SACD format makes here.
As good as it gets. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
P.S. The dual disc set is sold at a single SACD price -- wunderbar!
P.P.S. For multi-channel fans, the original Philips recordings started life as quadro recordings (RQR) ... so all the multi-channel information is there.
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