AllMusic, James Manheim
Four and a half Stars

The highlight of this release by the Linos Piano Trio will be apparent after just a few moments of sampling: the sound of the instruments is unique. This is a historically oriented recording, something that is not as strange for Ravel as it used to be, but this one is unique, and it made classical best-seller lists in the summer of 2023. Actually, it is not a historical performance but almost a historical reconstruction of how Ravel might have heard his Piano Trio in A minor in his head; the group uses an 1882 Érard concert grand that was similar to what Ravel had at home, and the violinist and cellist use gut strings (with a varying ratio of wound vs. plain).

The effect is magical.

There is none of the sharp attack from the usual Steinway, overpowering the other instruments unless drastic measures are taken. Instead, the delicate piano and the instruments together offer a night scene, a gentle sky full of stars that is ideally suited to the extramusical content of the trio, its folk and Malay influences.

…

Ravel’s Piano Trio has never sounded like this before, and the group is magnificently recorded by Germany’s Südwestrundfunk at its Baden-Baden studios.

Listen and be amazed.