Standard Reviews

"Bewitching and breathtaking."
Suddeutsche Zeitung, Munich

"Outstanding!"
Der Bund, Swiss Radio DRS2 live broadcast from Bern

"The Angell Trio's reading of the Mendelssohn Trio in D minor perfectly captured the dawn of the Romantic era and a Classical sense of proportion. The Trio proved capable of the highest order of ensemble playing in the expression and dynamics of this captivating performance. Their qualities became especially apparent in the seemingly innocent slow movement: behind the friendly and lyrical song these musicians succeeded in searching out deeper regions of feeling, not only cradling their audience but taking them on a twilight journey of romantic dreams."
Der Bund, review of Swiss Radio DRS2 live broadcast.

"A very fine ensemble indeed, full of spirit and personality."
Andras Schiff

"They combine very sensitive musicianship with warm and outgoing personalities, and a genuine enjoyment of communicating with their audiences."
Yehudi Menuhin

"The two most striking qualities in the Angell Trio's concert at Weill Recital Hall on Tuesday evening might seem to be mutually exclusive. On one hand, the ensemble's performances of works by Haydn, Brahms and James MacMillan were models of clarity, with every note beautifully polished and balances organised with clockwork precision.

Yet these were hardly readings of soulless precision: the players found room within their thoughtful readings for the passion and fire that is the difference between an ad hoc trio performance and one by a group that works together regularly.

Haydn's Trio in G was a wise choice as a concert opener because its demands - an interlacing of courtly transparency and rustic zestiness - immediately established the group's strengths, corporately and individually. Ms Angell, for example, was playing a modern concert grand with its lid open, yet was able to produce a sparkling, focused sound that suggested the lightness of a late-18th-century instrument. And the string players, both in tandem and on their own, produced appealingly rounded timbres that offset the piano lines beautifully.

The Brahms Trio in B, Op.8, was necessarily weightier, but what the Angell players seemed to find most inviting about it was its lyricism and a current of playfulness that remains hidden in most performances. Aside from a remarkably nimble reading of the Scherzo, the ensemble highlighted the unlikely allusions to the Viennese ballroom in the opening Allegro con brio movement.

Between the Haydn and the Brahms, the trio gave the American premiere of MacMillan's "Fourteen Little Pictures" (1997). Its title notwithstanding, this is a big work, and like most of Mr MacMillan's scores, it is steeped in Christian symbolism, with pounding bass notes in the piano representing the hammering of the nails. Mr MacMillan knows how to create effects and he does so stunningly here, giving the piece a tense, ominous atmosphere but also some magnificently soaring cello and violin lines. It would be hard to imagine a more powerful performance of this work."
New York Times, Carnegie/Weill Hall.

Review of Angell Trio CD recording of Peter Fribbins Piano Trio (2003-04) for the Guild label
"The Piano Trio, the first and longest work on the CD, doesn't shrink from bleakness. Writing in octaves and tenths competes with cantabile passages to establish a tension that never quite resolves itself. Here the Angell Trio brings an insight and enthusiasm individually and as three which truly reveal the essence of Fribbins' musical ideas."
MusicWeb International

Reviews of Angell Trio CD of Martinu Piano Trios for ASV (re-released on Sanctuary Classics)
"Exemplary lyricism and style.. their playing throughout is intelligent, technically proficient and thoroughly musical."
The Strad

Review of Wigmore Hall concert
"Haydn's Gipsy Rondo Trio danced away with great panache and drama... the highlight of the evening was Brahms Trio in B major, in which the group's timbral variety made this well-loved work shine in new lights."
The Strad

Review of Bavarian Radio concert
"In the evening's first work, Martinu's Trio in D minor, the Angell Trio already demonstrated their pedigree; not only did the three display some brilliant ensemble playing, but also a wonderfully shared vision and understanding of the three works performed."
Munchner Merkur

Classic CD magazine
"The Angell Trio delivers a totally compelling and physically exhilarating performance, with highly eloquent and expressive playing in the slow movements."

Penguin Guide to Classical CDs, with recommendation of First Choice
"Excellent performances of these engaging pieces recorded in very good sound. Anyone wanting the Martinu Piano Trios need really look no further."

MusicWeb International
"The Angell Trio prove themselves a highly proficient ensemble with an excellent unity and seem particularly suited to these scores. In the Five Short Pieces their energy and drive in the opening allegro is impressive and they convincingly convey a bleak and icy character in the adagio. I enjoyed their spiky, machine-like rhythms, fused with the jazzy episodes of the concluding movement. In the Piano trio No.2 their interpretation is robust in the probing and bristly rhythms of the allegro moderato and then drops effortlessly away to a mere whisper. They provide a tender reading of the andante supplying an unrelenting drive of forward propulsion in the closing allegro.

The markedly contrasting moods of the Piano Trio No.3 are interpreted with an impressive steadfastness. The players bring a desolate almost sinister feel to the andante and the high spirits of the closing allegro are conveyed with buoyancy and panache. In the Duo No. 2 the varying character of the opening movement is convincingly interpreted and the adagio is played with yearning reflectivity.

There are surprisingly few recordings of these Piano trios in the catalogues which is surprising against the background of the quality of these scores. These are excellent performances and when combined with the clear and well balanced sound quality the disc makes a welcome reappearance. "