Dvořák: Piano Trios 3 & 4 "Dumky"

Dvořák was a wonderfully natural composer, but even so, his music can be tricky to perform well. The Florestan Trio excels: there’s no sense here of the built-in problems of ensemble and balance relating to the piano-trio lineup of violin (pitched high), cello (low), and piano (between the two, but with a totally different dynamic range and sonority). Piano Trio No. 3 has the four-movement design typical of its 19th-century era. Susan Tomes’ piano playing presents the brisk second movement’s main theme with lovely poise; then cellist Richard Lester’s opening of the slower third movement continues in beautiful duet with violinist Anthony Marwood. No. 4 is a quite different work: each of the six movements is in the Slavonic “Dumka” genre, switching impulsively between slow, quick, and slow again, with these players deftly catching every shift of mood and pace.