Trio Parnassus - Chaminade: Piano Trios (2017)

Although there were once some 200 Chaminade Clubs in the U.S. alone, the music of Cécile Chaminade, France's foremost female composer of the late Romantic era, has not been well served on recordings. Her piano music is beginning to reappear, but the works for piano trio and the duo pieces on this disc from Germany's MDG label are very rare finds. Chaminade's larger works, such as the two piano trios heard here, tend to follow Germanic rather than French models. They're attractive, elegantly made works, but the greatest value perhaps lies in the smaller works, those for which Chaminade was sometimes criticized for writing in stereotypically feminine genres. Sample the Capriccio for violin and piano, Op. 18, with its exquisitely controlled virtuosity. The first movement of the Piano Trio in A minor, Op. 34, is a strong point among the trios with its tightly constructed, yet lyrical, second subject area; this work could enliven any recital of French chamber music. The venerable Trio Parnassus has picked up new members along the way, and they seem attuned to the requirements of Chaminade's music, sober yet delicate in a pleasant way. And of course there is exemplary sound from the concert house at the Marienmünster Abbey. Recommended. -- James Manheim