Mozart: Divertimento K563; Schubert: String Trio D471 – review

Mozart's E flat Divertimento K563 is arguably the greatest work ever composed for string trio. Yet recordings of it seem to come along infrequently, and truly outstanding versions are even rarer, with the generally recommended version, by the Grumiaux Trio on Philips, now over 40 years old. Even if it doesn't quite oust that classic performance, this latest one, with violinist Frank Peter Zimmermann, viola player Antoine Tamestit and cellist Christian Poltera, is a considerable achievement, warmly recorded, scrupulously stylish and wonderfully generous in spirit. It's played by a trio who are not only all front-rank soloists in their own right, but chamber musicians who know how to listen intently to each other and to respond accordingly, and if their performance doesn't always quite touch the emotional depths that the work can reach, everything else is immaculately realised.