This is the second album by the
Neave Trio
devoted to works by women, and both are successful, with elegant playing and intelligent programming. The names of
Cécile Chaminade
,
Ethel Smyth
Germaine Tailleferre
, and
Lili Boulanger
are not unknown these days, but it would be a rare listener who would have all these works in instant mental recall. The program offers works by two pairs of composers who were born within a year of each other, a generation apart. It is not clear that the composers defined for themselves a women's tradition, but it is not clear that they didn't. The elegant and beautifully worked-out
Piano Trio No. 1, Op. 11
, of
Chaminade
, is a standout. For decades, this composer was hardly known beyond a few academic recital pieces, but in the early 20th century, there were no fewer than 200 Chaminade Clubs in the U.S. alone, with an acrostic motto using the letters of
's surname. This work and the
Piano Trio
of
are certainly shaped by
Brahms
, but each has its own melodic flavor. The second generation comprises
Tailleferre
, whose trio is heard in a reworking from the late '70s, and the tragically short-lived
Boulanger
, whose two short trio works are more often heard as orchestral pieces. Their delicacy argues for the versions heard here. The
has obviously invested time and emotional commitment into these pieces, and the album was splendidly recorded at Potton Hall in Suffolk. A superior chamber music release. ~ James Manheim