Hard on the heels of Vol. 2 of Roussel's chamber music (Olympia, 9/95) comes this third volume, with many of the same artists, which continues the coverage of his works from 1929 to his death in 1937. The booklet commentator makes the point that whereas Ravel's powers unfortunately declined towards the end, Roussel, who died in the same year, seemed to be going from strength to strength. Certainly the string trio he wrote in 1937 is one of his most rewarding works: the sinewy, appealing first movement, the deeply intense, tonally elusive Adagio (which many recognize as among his very finest creations) and the ebullient scherzo that, rather curiously, ends the trio (had a further movement been intended?) compel our admiration. And the reflective short sections he wrote, that same year, for Elpenor (which was to have been a radio featurette with dialogue) are not only among his most approachable pages, with a luminous quality about them, but, especially the start of the Prelude, of great lyrical beauty. Yet he had not been a natural melodist, as is exemplified by the tonally free Andante of the earlier trio for flute, viola and cello, which sounds arbitrarily manufactured, between the cheerful first Allegro (largely a solo showcase for the flute) and the sprightly, engaging finale (in which there is an interesting passage for low-lying flute against string harmonics). It is perhaps in his slow movements that Roussel is less convincing: the urgently rhythmical opening of the String Quartet, for example, is striking, its scherzo delicately light-footed, and the finale, a vigorous fugue with contrasting episodes, attractive; but the broad Adagio, despite its warmth, then begins to meander. Oddly inconsistent in style is the melodic but harmonically restless Andante for flute and the straightforwardly sparkling scherzo to which it is attached.
Recording is clean but somewhat close; and it may be this that makes the Trio for flute, viola and cello appear limited in dynamic range. But all the performances here are extremely efficient, that of the string trio particularly persuasive.'