The Leonore Piano Trio's newest recording featuring Parry's Piano Trios Nos 1 & 3 was released on 1 February 2019 on Hyperion and has been receiving enthusiastic reviews:
"An outstanding release... Hats off to the Leonore Piano Trio, which launches int o the opening bars of the E minor Trio (no. 1) with a soaring potency and impassioned eloquence... Tim Horton makes the most of the swirling piano textures as violinist Benjamin Nabarro and cellist Gemma Rosefield thrillingly match their bowing intensity and fast/narrow vibratos, to create an extraordinary sense of music arriving hot off the press... [In the third trio] the Leonore players respond with a fervent spontaneity that grips the attention from first note to last." Julian Haylock, The Strad
"You'll be purring with satisfaction at this exemplary new release from the Leonore Piano Trio... these performances feel fully matured - fresh, intelligent and strikingly stylish; edgy when they need to be and opening out generously when Parry's romantic impulse demands it."
Richard Bratby, Gramophone
"The Leonore Trio give both works with ripe timbres and passion, meticulous in ensemble and intonation. They’re equally convincing in the early Partita, for violin and piano."
Stephen Pettitt, The Times
"There is a great deal to delight the listener... The Leonore Piano Trio's winsome performance of the scherzo has made me return with pleasure to this altogether attractive work... The Leonore Piano Trio play the work with affection, as does Benjamin Nabarro and Tim Horton the Partita in D Minor." Daniel Jaffe, BBC Music Magazine
"This is a richly rewarding disc which I enjoyed from start to finish. The playing of the members of the Leonore Piano Trio is expert and highly committed. This is very worthwhile music anyway but they make the best possible case for it. The recorded sound is excellent, as are Jeremy Dibble’s notes. I believe that a recording of Parry’s Second Piano Trio will be forthcoming from these artists in due course. I look forward to that very much"
John Quinn, MusicWeb International
"Plenty of passion...emotional drive and sensitive asides with one another [in the E-minor Piano Trio], locked into a concise first-movement symphonic design, played with conviction and oneness by the Leonore members. There follows a very lively Molto vivace, air-filled with Mendelssohnian lightness, the Trio section and the Trio players generously expressive. The heart of the piece is an eloquent and intimate Adagio and the Finale (Allegro giocoso) skips along uninhibitedly."
Colin Anderson, Classical Source *****
"These are charming works, given well-deserved - and well-crafted - performances here...Parry's Third Piano Trio forms the heart of the disc and in it we hear a sophisticated handling of the genre...a worthwhile and overdue recording." Angus McPherson, Limelight Magazine ****
"Colour-conscious, energising and subtle playing of Benjamin Nabarro, Gemma Rosefield and Tim Horton." Jonathan Woolf, MusicWeb International
This disc, recorded for the composer's centenary in 2018, marks the Trio's fifth release for Hyperion Records. With a clear affinity for recording hidden gems of the piano trio repertoire, previous discs include works by Johann Peter Pixis, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and Sergei Taneyev, Edouard Lalo, Anton Arensky and David Matthews. Their next release will be a second disc of Parry's Piano Trio No. 2 as well as his Piano Quartet.
More information on the Leonore Piano Trio’s new recording, as well as extracts from the disc can be found at the Hyperion website.
