Leif Ove Andsnes and Christian and Tanja Tetzlaff’s full-throated, richly romantic accounts of the Schumann piano trios came as something of a revelation (EMI, 7/11). The Horszowski Trio on this new Avie set sound almost reticent by comparison. It’s not that these young musicians are lacking passion or fire – quite the contrary, in fact – but rather that their approach is more inward-looking. Or, to put it another way, Andsnes et al play as if to an audience in a concert hall, whereas the Horszowski sound like they’re playing for one another at home. Right from the start of the First Trio, for example, note how they respect Schumann’s piano marking, so the opening paragraph seems to be simmering with disquiet. I love, too, how they send the rapidly ascending fusillades of triplets flying like sparks in the wind (starting at 0'35").

Although the Horszowski are mostly attentive to textual detail, there are one or two passages where they miss something important. Where, say, are the hairpin crescendo-decrescendos in the Trio of Op 63’s scherzo-like second movement? Schumann’s markings indicate these phrases should undulate in waves; here they flow in a placid stream. But, thankfully, the musicians do make the most of the crucial hairpins in the first movement of Op 110, suggesting a veritable ocean of emotional surges and swells.

It’s in the Horszowski’s attention to textural detail, however, that I think they outshine even Andsnes and the Tetzlaffs. Listen, say, to how they balance heartiness and buoyancy at the start of Op 80. Schumann marks this movement Sehr lebhaft, yet they don’t push the tempo too hard and focus instead on articulation. The result has an intoxicating frothiness. Then, when Schumann gradually sprinkles in smooth, lyrical lines and starts stirring those disparate elements more closely together – the sparkling and the silky – the Horszowski’s consistent differentiation helps enormously in generating and sustaining tension. This lightness of touch is evident in every one of the finales, as well as in the delightful ‘Humoreske’ from the Op 88 Phantasiestücke.

Balance plays an important role in texture too, of course, and it happens that violinist Jesse Mills and cellist Raman Ramakrishnan are tonally very well matched indeed. Just listen to how blended their singing is in the Phantasiestücke’s lovely ‘Duetto’. Producer and engineer Judith Sherman also deserves kudos for finding near-ideal parity among the three players within the warm, natural acoustic of the American Academy of Arts and Letters in New York. Andsnes and the Tetzlaffs are still my prime recommendation – not forgetting Gilels, Kogan and Rostropovich in Op 63 (DG) – but be sure I’ve made room on my shelf for the Horszowski Trio, too.