Trio Zimbalist – pianist George Xiaoyuan Fu, violinist Josef Špaček and cellist Timotheos Gavriilidis-Petrin – took their name from Efrem Zimbalist, the violinist who served as director from 1941 to 1968 of the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia, where these three musicians met. And this beautifully recorded debut recital is but the fourth release from Curtis Studio, the school’s in-house label.

Opening with Mieczysław Weinberg’s 1945 Piano Trio, the threesome waste no time in showing what they’re made of, for the work’s first two minutes are unrelentingly, gruellingly intense. Weinberg’s Trio has had some fine recordings recently, most notably by Gidon Kremer and friends (DG, 1/20 – and see page 55), but Trio Zimbalist are equally compelling, and perhaps even preferable, given that Špaček’s intonation is far more reliable than Kremer’s – it’s almost flawless, in fact, and he’s just as impressive in less fearsome passages. Listen, too, to how fragile and tender his tone is following that deluge (at 2'18"). And in the hammering second-movement Toccata, all three players’ rhythmic precision and taut ensemble create a sense of ruthless, implacable savagery (try, say, at 1'03").

Lera Auerbach’s First Trio (1996) is not so far removed from Weinberg’s ruefully expressive sound world, and here again Trio Zimbalist provide an emotionally immersive experience. Gavriilidis-Petrin may not evoke the sound of seagulls quite as realistically as his counterpart in the Delta Piano Trio (Odradek, 4/18) near the end of the first movement, but in general Trio Zimbalist are able to carry the music’s considerable weight of immense sadness with admirable poise, and they tear through the Presto finale like proverbial bats out of hell.

With a Czech violinist, Dvořák seems a natural choice, and although the Dumky Trio has been recorded umpteen times, Trio Zimbalist’s reading sounds miraculously fresh. This is partly because they keep the music flowing ever forwards, even if it’s done oh-so-gently. It’s also due to their imaginative phrasing – this is immediately apparent in the opening section – and their appreciation of Dvořák’s inventive textures (listen in the fourth movement at 2'04", for instance). And, honestly, what a welcome balm this Dumky is following Weinberg and Auerbach’s harrowing journeys.

All in all, then, an astonishingly accomplished debut.