Unless you’re a German Lit major or an aficionado of the songs of Alban Berg, you are likely to be unfamiliar with the name of Peter Altenberg. Hell, most Americans probably don’t know who Rilke or Heine or Goethe were; what hope does a minor poet like Altenberg have for modern recognition in San Diego? (He’s obscure enough that he doesn’t even have an entry in the Encyclopedia Britannica).

Regardless, a classy piano trio from Vienna has adopted Altenberg as their namesake, and San Diego had the opportunity to hear them perform an all-Mozart program this past weekend. Just as one doesn’t associate chamber music group names with poets (chamber ensembles usually choose composer or musician or mythological names), one doesn’t associate piano trios with Mozart. For the past two years, Mainly Mozart has used its Spotlight Series to feature the works of one composer per concert. Last weekend was Mozart’s turn to display his chamber music prowess.

If I were program director and wanted to give an audience the most effective and affective dose of Mozart, I would have chosen the Clarinet Quintet, one or both of the piano quartets, the D minor String Quartet, or his best piano works. Mozart piano trios? I wouldn’t even consider them. Why, the piano trio is the province of Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Dvorak, Ravel, Faure, and the list goes on and on. Mozart is rarely invited to the Piano Trio Party.

There’s a reason for this. Out of the three works on Friday’s concert at the Neurosciences Institute, only the second half offering—the B-flat Piano Trio, K. 502—could stand on its own next to such distinguished company. The two works preceding K. 502 on the first half—the Divertimento in B-flat, K. 254 and the Piano Trio in G, K. 564—are Mozartian trinkets. Because they’re by the mature Mozart, they are brilliant, shiny, and twinkling, but it’s clear that these baubles are rhinestones instead of diamonds.

Yet who cared when these jewels were displayed in such a masterly fashion by the gentlemen in the Altenberg Trio? The Trio’s beauty of tone, elegant articulations, generous phrasing, and thoughtful conception of each movement’s form could not help but win over newcomers and jaded concertgoers alike. In Mozart’s ear, the piano trio as a genre began to move away from a beefed-up accompanied piano sonata, yet the melodic focus is still primarily on the piano. Claus-Christian Schuster tackled the keyboard part with aplomb, throwing off roulades, scales and arpeggios with a limpid, singing tone, as if each individual note in the line were a gleaming pearl on a necklace. His tempos were appropriately chosen and kept the momentum up, yet there was room within for rhythmic give-and-take.

Violinist Amiram Ganz played munificently, a warm sound with a tight vibrato that sang out when needed. Cellist Alexander Gebert brought a similar warmth to his instrument. Throughout the evening, intonation was flawless, as was the coordination between all three musicians. This was world-class playing that whetted one’s appetite to hear the Altenberg Trio tackle some more profound repertory. These gentlemen have over 200 works in their repertory, and a number of those were recently composed. Someone please bring them back to San Diego and turn them loose on a program without any Mozart.

For a copy of the program, click here.