This second installment in Audite's complete series of Saint-Saëns piano...

This is impressive. The performances are forward-moving and dramatic, and the recording is bright and resonant, with hints of surrounding upper partials that contribute to the interest of both cello and piano sound. I shouldn’t know this, since I have no capability in my system for tasting the presumed glories of multichannel sound or SACD. This recording makes me happy with what I have, two fine speakers with the clarity and resonance to appreciate good recorded sound when they are presented with it. I hope this is not one of those over-expensive SACD discs, since it is short in timing and sounds perfectly fine in straight stereo.

When it comes to Brahms, I have so many preconceived notions as to how he ought to sound, based on old records and performances I have heard and done – any new recording is likely to bring out odd reactions. Wick and Devoyon have a passionate approach to the music. The only hesitation I have is that their passion is so perfect in its expression that it tends to sound planned. Wick’s vibrato is a bit unvaried, though his actual phrasing is excellent. Devoyon is a model pianist with a fine sense of balance and interesting tone color. To sum up, I have heard a few more consistently exciting readings of these pieces, but few that show more effective organization and are as richly recorded.

No, it isn’t a new recording by the old master and his pals. The Jacques Thibaud String Trio is a Berlin ensemble that chose its namesake for his dedication to chamber music. The Thibauds perform all their concerts with without a score; the liner notes explain that this is because it “facilitates spontaneous communication”. I don’t know if they recorded this without looking at the score, but their playing does have a nice intimacy to it.

Beethoven wrote five string trios in the 1790s: Opus 3, the three of Opus 9. and a transcription of the Opus 87 trio for two oboes and English horn. After he started writing quartets, he abandoned this territory. Some of the material here prefigures the quartets; this is especially true in Trio 3, one of his earliest works in C minor. The C-minor speaks with more of Beethoven’s mature voice than the other two trios. Though not Beethoven’s most serious music, these trios are not mere trifles (take a look at the playing time!). But they are very enjoyable pieces, and the Thibauds sound like they are enjoying themselves.

The program opens with a big G-major chord, and for a moment I was sure I had put the wrong disc in because it sounded like a string orchestra. Seconds later, the ensemble quieted to a piano and began to sound like a string trio.

The Thibauds have given us some very playful Beethoven: it’s hard not to envision games of cat-and-mouse when listening. That’s not to say their playing is cartoonish. It’s not. The theatricality in their playing comes from their attention to the small gestures in the music. That they manage to amplify these gestures without exaggerating them or emphasizing them in preference to musical phrasing is a testament to their imagination and skill. But there are some minor intonation problems.

To listen to these early works is to be charmed by them. There are several recordings of the complete trios you might also consider: the Leopold Trio (Hyperion 67253), Grumiaux Trio (Philips 456317), and Perlman-Zukerman-Harrell (EMI 54198). I recommend the first two, but the only mistake you can make is not to listen to these works at all.

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Formed in Neustadt, Germany, by Sebastian, Nanette, and Bernhard Schmidt, the Mandelring Quartet takes its name from the almond-tree-rich district where the siblings were born. Multiple prize winners and founders of the HambacherMusikFest, they have established themselves on stage and disc as one of Europe's most distinguished and adventurous young groups. In addition to playing the standard literature, they specialize in discovering, performing, and recording the works of contemporary and unjustly neglected composers such as Berthold Goldschmidt (1903-1996) and George Onslow (1784-1853).

Their new three-volume project combines Johannes Brahms with Heinrich von Herzogenberg, (Felix) Otto Dessoff, and, on this record, Friedrich Gernsheim (1839-1916), an unknown but excellent and prolific German composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher. Though pairing a towering genius' masterpieces with works of his lesser contemporaries seems hazardous, Gernsheim's quartet holds its own: grandly conceived, clearly structured, texturally full-blooded but not dense, rhythmically pungent and original, it is ardently romantic. This is music that is lush, dramatic, intense, and abounding with beautiful, lyrical melodies and rich harmonies. The playing throughout is first-rate, fully equal to all technical demands, tonally warm, homogeneous and clear, deeply felt and expressive. Gernsheim could not have wished for more persuasive advocates. The Brahms is brilliant, expansive, sustaining drama, exhibiting drive and tension without haste.

The record is an admirable, welcome addition to the Romantic discography.