Tchaikovsky's Trio has become more popular of late, with the newest Gramophone Classical Catalogue listing 13 groups whose versions are currently available. This is one to take its place in some very august company, and that in particular offers new insight into the nature and structure of the long, difficult opening movement. Partly, this is achieved through a flexible approach to tempo. The work is dedicated ''To the memory of a great artist'' (Tchaikovsky's mentor Nikolay Rubinstein), and the movement is entitled Pezzo Elegiaco. The players treat it with considerable flexibility of tempo, which works extremely well when their understanding of its unusual structure is so acute. The implications are there for all to read, in Tchaikovsky's changes of main tempo marking during the movement and his subsidiary expressive marking (con anima, dolente espressivo, etc), but not all groups perceive so sensitively how they are expressive of the form of the movement as well as of shifts in the general elegiac mood. With this grasp of form, together with their mutual sympathy, the manner can be quite free, so that each player can pick up a turn of phrase from another as if in dialogue. This is the finest kind of chamber music making. It is fresh, and it takes risks, as all performances do that deal in the making of music and not the execution of a plan of campaign. The ensuing variations are delightfully done, with a nimble scherzo, a tinkling musical clock, a waltz that has a charming, even witty lilt, and a fugue that proves the point of including it (Tchaikovsky nervously said it could be cut). They even bring off the rather noisy finale before the touching return of the opening elegy.
Arensky's Trio, by now a regular partner to Tchaikovsky's on record, is also given a fine performance, with a brilliant scherzo and grave, intense playing of the beautiful Elegia. The recording is particularly sensitive to the demands put upon everyone by Tchaikovsky, who wrote some notoriously thick chords for the piano. They need careful handling by the pianist, but much can be contributed by engineers who are sensitive to the particular problems. This is as fine a performance as any on record, and in many ways the most interesting of all that I have heard.'