Widor: Piano Trio, Op. 19 / Piano Quintet, Op. 7

"This is quite a find. Widor as a composer music comes from an altogether different musical species than the writer of spectacular Organ Symphonies. The Piano Trio is early. Composed in 1875, it is charming, lightweight work, with a romantic first movement with a pleasingly elegant secondary theme. There is a debt to Mendelssohn in the Andante, which is like a song without words. The Scherzo and Rondo finale have attractive ideas too, besides freshness and vitality.

The Piano Quintet, although shorten in length, is a bigger work, more concentrated in conception and style, with the piano dominatiung the bold opening movement. One more the Andante brings elegance, but it is the Molto vivace Scherzo that looks back to Mendelssohn. The polyphonic development in the finale than brings added gravitas. Both works are played here with fluent spontaneity and plenty of spirit, and the recording is excellent. This is not great music, but admirers of Widor's organ music may find it a refreshing change." Penguin Guide