The Hartley Piano Trio do well by Spohr’s demanding Third Trio, in A minor, keeping everything light and amiable, emphasizing the charm of the music rather than the faintly sinister note which tinges the scherzo and also the finale. It is possible to make more of this; but Spohr seldom maintains the dark element for long, and it is perfectly valid to treat this as a faint shadowing of music that is essentially sunny. Even in the more ambitious G minor Trio, they do not attempt to give the fine Adagio a Beethovenian weight – which, indeed, it could scarcely bear. This work is also cleanly and attractively played, with a pleasing lilt to the Scherzo. The recording is on the whole effective, though there are points of detail that go by the board, including, regrettably, the pizzicatos in the Trio of the G minor Trio that give the piano’s figuration a nice rhythmical equivocation. For the A minor Trio, it would be difficult to give the Hartleys’ version preference over the Borodins’ recent disc; but those seeking the G minor Trio, a much better work than the B flat Trio, should find this coupling enjoyable.
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