There has been something of a flurry of Beethoven piano trios coming my way over the past couple of months. First the Wanderer’s complete set, followed by the initial volume of a live cycle by the Gould Trio. Now we have another live performance of a group I hadn’t previously encountered, the Phoenix, captured live at the Holywell Music Room in Oxford.

The Poco sostenuto opening of Op 70 No 2 is a good indicator of a trio’s Beethovenian philosophy. The Florestan and Trio Wanderer are both markedly faster than the Phoenix, which makes it easier to follow the musical argument. A slower speed can be effective in emphasising the chasteness of the intertwining lines, but to be truly effective it has to be accompanied by a supreme sureness, which these players don’t entirely convey. It also necessitates a rapid speeding-up for the Allegro ma non troppo, which can sound forced. Of course, what works live doesn’t necessarily transmit on CD – and vice versa.

In general, the Phoenix seem to favour slowish tempi: the Wanderer’s presentation of the gemütlich theme that launches the second movement’s double-variation form is more carefree than in the Phoenix’s hands, which in turn makes for greater drama with the minor-key sections. Most effective is the finale, though even here they can’t match the heady virtuosity of the Florestan and Wanderer.

It’s the outer movements of the Archduke where the Phoenix seem to have most to say, shaping the opening Allegro moderato effectively and setting a purposeful pace in the finale, though the string interjections aren’t as characterful as those of the Wanderer. But the middle movements are more problematic: the Scherzo is on the steady side, with the accentuation sounding somewhat artificial, rather than integral to the path of the music. And in their quest for solemnity in the Andante cantabile, the Phoenix set a tempo that sounds uncomfortably sluggish. To sample true intensity in this movement, go instead to the very different readings of Thibaud/Casals/Cortot and Zukerman/du Pré/Barenboim.