PRINCE LOUIS FERDINAND OF PRUSSIA (1772-1806): Complete Piano Trios, Vol. 3 - Andante with Variations in B Flat, Op. 4, Piano Quartet in E Flat, Op. 5, Larghetto in G for Piano Quartet and Double Bass, Op. 11.

Description: Previous releases of three piano trios, a piano quintet and this piano quartet - an example of pianistic brilliance but with each of the strings still given plenty of opportunities to shine in their own right - have alerted collectors to the prince's startling anticipation of such early Romantic composers as Schumann, Weber and Schubert. The motivic work is practically Beethovenian but the mood is often astonishingly decades ahead of the period in which the work was composed. The op. 4, of over 13 minutes in length, anticipates Chopin's tonal language while the misleadingly titled Larghetto (it's over 25 minutes long!) came out the same summer (1806) as the op. 5 quartet and is of a piece with all of Prince Louis' chamber works as well. Trio Parnassus, Thomas Selditz (viola), Stanislau Anishchanka (double bass).