As with Shostakovich and his string quartets, there are no really early Dvořák piano trios. The First Trio in B flat was composed in the same year as the Fifth Symphony (1875), with which it shares a bright but weathered countenance. Note in particular the gorgeous upwards-reaching sequences from around 2'48" into the first movement, not to mention the chromatically infused sense of anticipation at 11'22". Wagner is an obvious presence, too: from 8'55" we appear to have wondered among the fauna and flora of a murmuring forest, a fact seemingly appreciated by the superb performers on this new recording. Given the wrong players relatively early Dvořák can sometimes hang fire, but never with Boris Giltburg and friends. Among their virtues are a keen sense of rhythm (always vital in Dvořák’s music), a deep understanding of the music’s underlying drama and a connection with its Slavic soul, encountered initially in the First Trio’s Adagio molto e mesto slow movement. Just listen to the way the strings intone the coda (from 8'01"), mysteriously suspending vibrato above Giltburg’s warm arpeggios.

The 1876 G minor Second Trio’s Schumannesque opening is both temperate and commanding (don’t forget that Schumann had already been dead 20 years by the time this work was written) and again the slow movement’s coda invites these players into shadowy realms that seem to suspend time. Giltburg’s fast repeated chords lend the Scherzo extra animation while the finale (more reflected Schumann at the start) admits a keen sense of play. With the F minor Third Trio (1883) we reach the cycle’s indisputable masterpiece, music that demands extra expressive weight from its interpreters, and I’m happy to relate that these players grant each movement its thoughtful due. At the start of the Scherzo, for example, while the strings saunter along amiably, Giltburg clarifies and colours Dvořák’s dancing counterpoint before the wistful Trio wafts in and the tone takes on added richness. Turn to the marginally swifter recording by violinist Christian Tetzlaff, cellist Tanja Tetzlaff and pianist Lars Vogt (who couple the Third and Fourth Trios on one CD) and the effect is noticeably less chiselled. And then of course there’s the Beaux Arts’ older complete set, where pianist Menahem Pressler does the honours with his customary fullness of tone.

If the Third is the cycle’s masterpiece, the last trio, the Dumky, is its most popular. Six short movements reflect the dumka form’s characteristic alternation of slow and fast sections, Giltburg, violinist Veronika Jarůšková and cellist Peter Jarůšek once again connecting with the music’s Slavic temperament, switching moods as if those moods were their own. Try the fourth dumka, which ambles along easily at first then sporadically rushes ahead like kids at play before looking back tenderly. These performers bring out the rustic elements in this music; they connect with the childlike stargazers that we all are at heart, and that is a good part of Dvořák’s appeal. I suppose you could call it the ultimate in authentic performance, and that’s fine by me. Great sound, too (Wyastone Concert Hall, 2022 23, producer Matouš Vlčinský). Strongly recommended.