The first two of Woldemar Bargiel’s three Piano Trios make for delightful and diverting listening. Bargiel (1828-1897) was Clara Schumann’s half-brother and his music was greatly admired by Brahms. It’s easy to hear why in this pair of substantial Trios, both in four movements, beautifully crafted and structured music with strong and varied ideas, sometimes Brahmsian in character, and more so in the mould of Mendelssohn. Whether noble, sparkling or deeply expressive, Bargiel has the means and methods to sustain his engaging creativity that withstands scrutiny and repetition, and here enjoys the services of the interactive Leonore Piano Trio, for Tim Horton (piano), Benjamin Nabarro (violin) and Gemma Rosefield relish the music’s tunefulness and emotions and make a great team, captured ideally at Henry Wood Hall (London) in February last year. This Andrew Keener-produced, David Hinitt-engineered and Peter Avis-annotated release is a winner: music we may not be familiar with but can be damn glad to now have the opportunity to enjoy it.

colinscolumn.com