Don Satz:

>These early Beethoven chamber works are so good that I'm always surprised
>when I hear them.

Well said.  I always anger people when I tell them I prefer the Op.9 trio
set to the Op.18 string quartets, but I really mean it.  Of the three great
trios in Op.9, the one in G major (No.2?) is my all-time favorite; never
fails to ignite joy in my heart whenever I hear it (well played, of
course).

>For comparison, I used L'Archibudelli on Sony Vivarte and
>Mutter/Rostropovich/Giuranna on DG.  The Mutter has an exhilarating
>bounce and joy that is infectious.  The Leopold is somewhat flat and
>stodgy; never is there any lift to it.  Going to the L'Archibudelli, on
>period instruments, we find similar qualities to the Mutter with any
>significant differences attributable to faster tempos by the
>L'Archibudelli.

I agree with you on the L'Archibudelli, very nice.  I don't know Mutter
et al (I tend to avoid big-name combinations in chamber music), but there
is a fantastic recording on Denon (a perfect CD? probably) of the Op.9 set
with JJ Kantorow and two others (I think they call themselves the Mozart
Trio); this is not HIP, but it is very hard to beat as both performance and
recording whether by HIpsters or others.

Ulvi
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