TRIO CON BRIO COPENHAGEN, Libby Gardner Concert Hall, University of Utah, Oct. 7

The Trio Con Brio Copenhagen has been around for a decade, and in that time it's been making quite a name for itself in Europe and the United States. The group has what it takes to be one of the best — it's technically accomplished, it has musicality in abundance and it has a way with its repertoire to make it seem that whatever it plays sounds as if it was written for these three musicians. This trio is certainly an ensemble to be reckoned with.

The threesome (Jens Elvekj?, piano, and sisters Soo-Jin Hong, violin, and Soo-Kyung Hong, cello) finally made it to Salt Lake City this week as part of their current American tour. They made their local debut Wednesday in Libby Gardner Concert Hall to open the Chamber Music Society of Salt Lake City's new season. And with any luck they'll be returning here on a regular basis — they're worth hearing again.

The group played a program that featured three of the greatest piano trios of the 19th century by Ludwig van Beethoven, Felix Mendelssohn and Bedrich Smetana.

They opened with Beethoven's Trio in D major, op. 70, no. 1, better known as the "Ghost" Trio for its eerie slow movement.

Their playing of this work was both delicately stated and boldly presented in that it was classically shaped and phrased and romantically intense and driven. And while the outer movements were dramatic and impassioned in their delivery, they saved the best for the slow movement.

In the Largo, the threesome captured the evocative character of the music. Their expressions were subtle and nuanced and made their performance of this movement sublime. It was mysterious, otherworldly, vivid and beautifully phrased with a transparency that was poetic and eloquent.

In the Beethoven as in the pieces that followed, there was a fine balance between the piano and the strings. This is by no means a given. All too frequently the piano dominates the proceedings to the detriment of the strings, but Elvekj? had his playing under control and the three frequently played as one.

The Beethoven was paired in the first half with Mendelssohn's Piano Trio No. 2 in C minor, op. 66.

One of the composer's most lyrically charged chamber works, the three captured this melodicism with their delicately tinged playing, yet they also brought passion and an intensity of expression to their account. Their playing was wonderfully textured and romantic in expression.

The slow movement in particular was memorable. It was exquisitely crafted and seamlessly played. It was here where the threesome's finely tuned ensemble playing came through.