Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari (1876-1948) is a composer difficult to classify. A child of his time he kept aloof from the innovations of the modernists and dodecaphony. As son of a German father and a noble-born Venetian mother he was born in Venice and went to study in Munich. He became famous as an opera composer, his chamber music remained largely neglected.

• The two piano trios on this new recording are early works, written around the turn of the century. They follow the line SchumannMendelssohn-Brahms, eschewing heavy density, but instead displaying a certain aristocratic levity, an enlightened simplicity.

• Played by the Italian trio Mezzena-Patria-Ballario.

• The booklet contains newly written liner notes by David Moncur