Beethoven: Piano Trios No. 5, "Ghost" & No. 7, "Archduke"

Longtime chamber-music companions, Braley and the string-playing Capuçon brothers, give us Beethoven’s most popular piano trios in recordings of power and poetry. Braley’s commanding piano playing underpins the performances with a wonderfully firm foundation over which the two Capuçons, playing as one, can weave their magic. “Ghost”—named after its spooky, slow movement—is beautifully judged and played with a fine sense of line. The more imperious “Archduke” is also done terrifically, the chorale-like “Andante cantabile” drawing out some exquisitely balanced chamber musicianship from this French trio, while the finale has a real spring in its step.