With the exception of the Cello Sonata, which was written in 1901 following his Second Suite for two pianos and Second Piano Concerto, all of Rachmaninov’s chamber music comes from the earliest part of his career. This body of work comprises the four compositions on this disc, together with two unfinished string quartets and also two Romances.

The early completed chamber works of Rachmaninov make a fascinating group. They were composed in the two years up to December 1893. All of this music, therefore, was written before the composer was twenty-one, yet it is wholly characteristic and by no means immature.

This recording includes Trio élégiaque No.2 which Rachmaninov started to write on the evening of Tchaikovsky’s death on 25 October 1893 and completed on 15 December. Rachmaninov was deeply shocked and distressed at the news of Tchaikovsky’s death and the piece was written to the memory of him.

The Moscow Rachmaninov Trio show great insight into the composer and their performances bring depth to the works.

‘Uniformly fine, sensitive and idiomatic playing and sound that alternately caresses and thunders as the music requires, this disc is a bargain … of all these fine works it would be impossible to imagine more satisfying performances than these… altogether a feast for the ears’ - Fanfare, USA

‘Performances characterised by admirable technical fluency and innate musical quality’ - The Strad

‘Recommended’ - BBC Music Magazine

‘Strongly recommended’ - The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs

[previously CDA67178]