Ravel’s Piano Trio takes us back to that idealised summer before the outbreak of the First World War. The opening movement is bathed in the luminous glow surrounding his two exquisite themes.
Every nuance of colour and mood is spell-bindingly explored before the long, gentle fade to the final pianissimo. He follows with Pantoum, a wildly complex Malayan verse form that he borrowed from Baudelaire that seems to dance with happiness. This leads in turn to an extended and sombre passacaglia of austere beauty that eventually gives way to the radiant light of the Finale.
