Haydn: The Heart of Invention (Piano Trios)

Trio Goya plays classical chamber music on period instruments. Formed out of a collective fascination with the new colours and narratives that these instruments suggest, the group concentrates its repertoire on the trios by Haydn and Mozart and the Opus 1 set by Beethoven. A fortepiano by Paul McNulty after Anton Walter, Vienna 1795 is the centrepiece of their performances.

The Trio takes its name from the fact that the working lives of all these composers were encompassed by the lifespan of Francisco Goya (1746 – 1828): his place in the development of painting is comparable to that of Beethoven in music, and the Trio’s chosen repertoire follows the same Enlightenment path, from classical elegance to romantic expression.

The piano trio formed an important part of Haydn’s chamber music output. During the 1790s, when the composer was at the height of his fame, the genre became very fashionable in Paris and London. The 1790s was also the period when Haydn came to England to perform his works at the famous Salomon concerts, for which he wrote his twelve ‘London’ symphonies. Many of Haydn’s greatest works for piano trio – including the pieces on this recording – were written during this period.

The range of colour and imagination displayed by the works on this disc is striking, from the brilliance of the opening movement of the C major Trio, Hob. XV: 27 to the darker-hued colours found in the F sharp minor Trio, Hob. XV: 26. Each of the trios is imbued with the bubbling vitality and classical elegance for which this composer is famous.