Vurdering: 5/5

"Here is clear evidence that Clara and Fanny possessed significantly more talent than many of their male composing contemporaries ... These well recorded and beautifully played performances get inside the musical dynamics of these enormously appealing works and in the case of the piano trios make a good case for their having an enduring presence in the repertoire"

"The Nash Ensemble, beyond their usual clean work, catches the particular drive of these works in their weighty performances. Although the church sound is not ideal, this sounds very much like a reference recording of these works"

"Extraordinary as it sounds, I think this may be the first time that the string-ensemble chamber music of Clara Schumann and Fanny Mendelssohn has been paired together on a recording, rather than with corresponding works by Robert and Felix. At the very least it's a first from a major ensemble, and the impression of this music being taken seriously on its own merits only intensifies when you press play ... To say this disc makes the case for Schumann and Mendelssohn standing on their own two feet, away from the music of their menfolk, is something of an understatement"

"Recommended: As the music of Clara Schumann and Fanny Mendelssohn becomes to be more appreciated, so more and more recordings of their music appear, chiefly their piano trios ... and so they should, as these deeply romantic works deserve their place in the chamber music repertoire ... The performance of the Nash Ensemble is exemplary, especially the pianism of Simon Crawford-Phillips in the two trios. Indeed, this is a performance that sheds new light on this music as it exhorts the romantic nature of the music. This is a recording that makes you listen to the music for its own merits, rather than as curios by female composers ... A recording which is highly recommended"

"Recommended: Clara Schumann was a child prodigy and, like Mozart, was carefully trained by her father for her eventual highly successful career as a concert pianist ... Her Piano Trio is one of only two chamber works that she left ... Fanny Mendelssohn ... was also a virtuoso pianist but was not given the same encouragement to compose as her brother Felix ... She was also close to Clara Schumann, and she wrote her own Piano Trio a year after Clara's ... These performances by members of the Nash Ensemble are full of fire and vigour, with no shortage of expressive nuance when called for ... I have been delighted to make the acquaintance of these fine compositions and can thoroughly recommend this coupling. What a shame circumstances prevented these composers from writing more"