Dvorák’s piano trios divide clearly into two groups. Nos 1 and 2, from 1875-76, belong to a stage when the composer had yet to achieve wide renown and, to some extent, was still struggling to find his own voice. But when, only seven years later, he came to write No 3, he could look back on a series of masterpieces, and, due to the first set of Slavonic Dances, he’d become an international celebrity.

I imagine many collectors will be happy just to have the two later works (conveniently paired on the excellent Florestan disc) but the earlier trios, if slightly uneven, contain fascinating and beautiful music and the Vienna Piano Trio certainly make the most of them. These are robust, confident performances, recorded to MDG’s usual high standards. At the start of No 1 there’s a vivid contrast between the dreamy opening and the energetic, obsessive rhythms that dominate much of the movement. Similarly, strong light and shade characterises the impressive opening Allegro of No 2. All the louder, more forceful music has an earthy quality – admirable for such movements as No 1’s finale and the wonderful Scherzo in No 2, as well as many places in the two later trios.

There’s a downside to this, however, moments where the performance seems heavy-handed – listen to the left-hand piano octaves in the Allegro sections of the first of the Dumky – but on balance it’s great to hear the folk elements in Dvorák given with such vigour and realism.

The emotional tone is uninhibited throughout. The Poco adagio of No 3 has an authentic, straight-from-the-heart intensity, and the gypsy-style violin solo on the G string in the finale of the Dumky strikes just the right unselfconscious note. Such passion is not always apt – the opening of No 4 sounds aggressive compared to the Florestan’s noble expression of sorrow. And there are places, particularly in No 4, where Dvorák seems to be looking back to a lost time of innocence, and where restraint rather than full-bloodied expression seems to be demanded. The opening of the second Dumky, for example, is, I find, too warm and immediate to capture the music’s rapt, magical quality. But even though the Vienna trio may miss a few tricks, there is overall a strong sense that Dvorák’s fertile imagination is being fully and inspiringly explored.