Chamber Music: Piano Trio No 1 / Irish Fantasies / etc

"[The Piano Trio] is certainly no wilting English violet of a piece, this excellent performance from the Gould Piano Trio highlighting its sinew, and its dramatic contours. In the Piano Quartet No 2 of 1913 there is a toughness and resolution to the workings that the Gould elucidate with understanding and panache."
(The Daily Telegraph)

hats off to Jeremy Dibble, the leading Stanford scholar, for his performance edition of the Quartet (and the disc's booklet), to the Gould Trio and David Adams (who joins them for this work) for their spirited and persuasive performances...A special nod goes to pianist Benjamin Frith for his expressive accompaniments in the violin and piano pieces" Classic FM Magazine, September 2011 ****

"It's hard to draw a deeper connection between an apparently un-Teutonic composer who came up with this winsome Irish material, and the one who could absorb himself so fully, and to such a finished technical standard, in the Brahmsian Piano Trio." BBC Music Magazine, October 2011 ****

"[The First is] a wonderfully fluent, superbly crafted creation that by no means follows convention...I'm delighted to be able to report that the Gould Piano Trio are magnificently stylish and sympathetic champions...Benefiting from top-notch production values throughout, this generously filled disc should be snapped up without delay." Editor's Choice Gramophone Magazine, Awards Issue 2011

Stanford's chamber music occupies an important position in his oeuvre, and this recording unearths more rarities.

Piano Trio No. 1 was dedicated to the great Hans von Bülow and is an impressively large-scaled and lyrical work, exuding both elegance and vigour. Piano Quartet No. 2 was revived by the Gould Trio after long neglect in 2010. It too is an exceptional work, melodically profuse, including folkloric elements and balancing its clement and turbulent aspects with utter assurance. The violin pieces supply appealing qualities of tuneful playfulness.