J.N. Hummel: Complete Piano Trios

It was a sensational first recording when the then still young Trio Parnassus embarked on a complete recording of Johann Nepomuk Hummel's piano trios at the end of the 1980s Piano trios by Johann Nepomuk Hummel. Now the highly acclaimed and long out-of-print recording has been reissued in MDG's "Preziosa" series - freshly freshly polished and, as always, supplemented by exciting and amusing anecdotes from the time of its creation. If Hummel's piano concertos are already of breathtaking virtuosity, the trios surpass this by far. However, this in no way prevents the Trio Parnassus from choosing quite swift tempi, especially in the final movements. Extremely attractive for the listener - and obviously no problem at all for pianist Friedemann Rieger. In contrast to the only slightly older Beethoven, Hummel has an almost inexhaustible wealth of melodic invention. He makes ample use of this in his trios, so that despite his pianistic brilliance, the strings can fully develop their vocal qualities Fully develop their vocal qualities. This was already noted by his contemporaries: "It would be desirable for Mr. H. to delight us more often with compositions of this kind", wrote the reviewer in the Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung, and the critics of our own day are also full of praise: "An excellent work praise: "A refreshing addition to the repertoire" was Stereoplay's verdict on the first edition Stereoplay on the first edition, "the charm of the music is savored with brilliance and joy of playing, but also with careful attention to detail and colorful refinement. Who can resist that?"

Johann Nepomuk Hummel (1778-1837)

• Klaviertrios Es-Dur op. 12, F-Dur op. 22, G-Dur op. 35, G-Dur op. 65, E-Dur op. 83, Es-Dur op. 93, Es-Dur op. 96