The Phoenix Piano Trio is recently formed but not altogether freshly minted: Jonathan Stone (violin), Marie Macleod (cello), and Sholto Kynoch (piano) are friends and colleagues of long standing, but only now are they playing together as a regular trio. To judge by the full house at this Oxford Chamber Music Society concert, they are already pulling audiences.

But we had to wait to hear the complete trio in action. To open this all-Czech programme, Sholto Kynoch was joined by Ylvali Zilliacus for a performance of Martinu’s Viola Sonata. Kynoch’s thunderous and percussive opening chords reminded me (and programme note writer Andrew Filmer) of hefty-sized church bells ringing out from a substantial tower — Martinu was the son of a bell-ringer, so the thought might not be entirely fanciful.

But composer and pianist eased off judiciously to allow feelings of yearning from the viola to show through, in turn both strongly and gently expressed by Zilliacus’s engrossing playing. The exhilarating second movement demanded — and received — great precision from both players, and left you wanting more — alas, Martinu added nothing further.

Then it was time to sample the full Phoenix Trio in action, with Smetana’s Piano Trio no 2, op. 15. With its amazing array of different moods and colours, developing from a strong opening statement on the violin and an answering, consoling, message from the cello, the Phoenix provided a telling reminder that there is much more to Smetana’s music than The Bartered Bride, wonderful though that opera is. The Trio sounded as if they’d been playing together all their lives as they delivered a virtuosic performance.

Finally, Ylvali Zilliacus joined the Trio for Dvorák’s Piano Quartet, Op. 87. Here there were many reminders that fresh ideas constantly bubble up in Dvorák’s music, with an evocation of leaping deer and a ghostly passage of tranquillity in the first movement, and a high-spirited finale, all played with great enthusiasm.