This album concludes The Brahms Trio’s five-volume survey of the piano trio in Russia with remarkable works by composers whose names have all but disappeared from the musical world’s collective memory. Vladimir Dyck, a student of Widor at the Paris Conservatoire, took French nationality in 1910 but his life came to a tragic end when he and his family were arrested in 1943 and sent to Auschwitz. His Piano Trio, op.25, contrasts Russian soulfulness with the lightness and deft scoring he brought to his film compositions. Constantin von Sternberg’s genial Op.104 reflects his career as a virtuoso pianist, while Sergey Youferov’s expansive and nostalgic Op.52 is a farewell to the Russian ‘Silver Age’, a world about to be destroyed by revolution.

History of the Russian Piano Trio is compiled chronologically and includes a number of world premiere recordings, and is dedicated to a particular period in the history of Russian music and features both well-known scores and rare editions and manuscripts.

The first volume (8574112) was released in November 2020. Critical comments include: ‘Glinka is generally regarded as the first Russian composer of note, and The Brahms Trio, here making their debut for Naxos, give an attractive account of it and the Rubinstein. If the coupling appeals, this is a worthwhile purchase’ (MusicWeb International).

Vol.2 (8574113) was considered ‘a very attractive album’ in the Kristeligt Dagblad, and for Klassiewelt (Bremen Zwei) ‘the first two issues of this top-class series are a real treasure trove for the fans of chamber music. And I can hardly imagine better interpreters than these three virtuosos from the Moscow Conservatory.’