You have to dig pretty deep into Beethoven's oeuvre to find his Variations on "La Ci Darem La Mano" from Mozart's Don Giovanni, WoO 28, and his Trio in B flat major, Op. 87, both works scored for the highly unusual combination of two oboes plus English horn. You have to dig even deeper to find the deeply obscure Josef Triebensee and his three Trios, plus his set of Variations on a theme from Haydn's "Surprise" Symphony -- yes, that theme. But these three superb soloists have dug deep, and while it might be too much to say they found buried treasure, it wouldn't be too much to say they unearthed some very pleasant, if wholly inconsequential, music. Both Beethoven's works are from his first years in Vienna. At nine minutes, the Variations do go on too long for concentrated listening, but the four-movement, 22-minute Trio is a beguiling little work that, except for its 10-minute opening Allegro, never overstays its welcome. Born two years after Beethoven in 1772, Triebensee was an oboist who ran the Prague Opera for 20 years while keeping up a sideline as a composer of operas, orchestral works, vocal works, and chamber works, including these Trios and Variations. While not earth-shattering in their aesthetic significance, the Trios are miniature delights and the "Surprise" Variations are a witty gloss on the original, which will no doubt confound even the most dedicated player of "name the composer." Performed with great skill, a sweet tone, and a robust sense of rhythm by
Marilyn Zupnik,
Kathryn Greenbank, and
Elizabeth Starr Masoudnia, this disc may not be for everyone or for all time -- but for what it is, it's terrific. Recorded in St. Paul, MN, in 1995 by Russ Borud and issued here by Sanctuary Classics, the digital sound is nicely balanced between too distant and too close, creating an intimate but not too intimate space for the music.