"After ‘Equal to Men’ and ‘Ladies’ Night’ now ‘It’s a Girl’. Irnberger and Moser, here reinforced by cellist David Geringas, have once again taken on the works of female composers of the past two centuries. While Amy Beach and Louise Farrenc are now already well-known names, Mélanie Hélène Bonis, Sophie-Carmen Eckhardt-Gramatté and Julia Frances Smith are still rather among the little known. Julia Smith was a primarily teaching artist who also composed. Bonis, who published her 300 or so compositions as Mel Bonis to conceal her gender, was able to have much printed during her lifetime. Coming from the late Romantic period, she also incorporated Impressionism into her music. Sonia Eckhardt-Gramatté was a piano and violin virtuoso. She learned to compose autodidactically. Her more than 175 works adopted the virtuoso style she cultivated instrumentally herself. Later she adopted neoclassical and bitonal, mixed with jazz idioms, as well as serial elements. Her dark and dramatic music remained romantically anchored despite these modern techniques. With three trios and two smaller works, Irnberger, Moser and Geringas present pieces that require the full attention of the performers for interpretation. And this attention doesn’t fail here. The three musicians allow energy just as they savor lyrical passages.
Irnberger and Moser, long attuned to each other, welcome David Geringas into their community, and he fits in equally well. Each of the three voices is given clear and distinct prominence in the recording, and yet they blend into an ensemble thanks to their shared interpretive approach. With this dedication, they give the pieces presented the energy that makes listening a pleasure".
