These two tremendous piano trios, of symphonic proportions, are deceptive. The movements begin innocently enough, but then develop searing power and passion. The period instruments here, led by a crystal-clear copy of an 1827 Graf piano with a pinging staccato, thin out the music and lend it a brittle, sharp attack. The funeral march of the E flat Trio Op 100 is especially striking, and there is a heart-stopping moment in the finale where Schubert brings back the funeral music, then twists the ending into the major key. In the B flat Trio Op 99 the cello is sometimes undernourished, but the rest is freshly, originally eloquent. In the eerie single-movement Notturno, Schubert pierces the heart.
