Yehudi Menuhin once remarked that what he especially admired about violinist Jacques Thibaud was his ability to express a musical phrase “without asking the permission of the metronome.” Thibaud was an exceptionally eloquent player who formed a trio with his two brothers performing the cello and piano parts, eventually trading up to partner with Alfred Cortot and Pablo Casals, two other gentlemen who were willing to play fast and loose – or, perhaps more accurately, slow and loose – with printed tempo markings.

Of course, neither of these trios was on hand on Wednesday evening at Rockefeller University, but the latterday Jacques Thibaud String Trio – Burkhard Maiss, violin; Philip Douvier, viola; and Bogdan Jianu, cello – presented a concert with guest pianist Tao Lin. What a joy to hear a youthful group on its way up, for certainly that is the direction in which the Thibaud Trio is traveling. This current incarnation was formed at the Berlin School of Art in 1994.

Confident enough to call an audible, the musicians changed the order of the program to begin with the familiar Piano Quartet in G minor, K. 478 of Mozart. I prefer my Mozart performances to be free from the desiccations of the period-instrument movement, and these passionate aspirants played their Mozart in the most freewheeling, mid-20th-century manner. Gestures were big, sound was big, pauses were big, and their guest pianist took many liberties with his phrasing, particularly when intoning alone.

Overall, I appreciated this interpretation very much, but somewhere deep down was the nagging thought that it was really all wrong.These men played Mozart as if there had been no Romantic revolution after his demise. There was little stylistic difference between this work and the Schumann Piano Quartet that was also on the program.

Technically, the trio still has much work to do. Mr. Maiss’s tone is quite thin, and he was prone to squeaks. All three need to tighten up their accuracy and probably, since this is the perennial problem of young musicians, replace their instruments with ones of a higher caliber and pedigree. (Of course, this takes major money and so a patron is devoutly to be wished.) Mr. Lin, from Shanghai, seemed a step above the others, but still exhibited some waywardness of rhythm that might have endeared him to Cortot, but not to me.

Much more interesting was the String Trio in A of Heinrich von Herzogenberg. This forgotten composer was a good friend of Brahms and married the master’s most attractive piano student, Elisabeth. Brahms’s nostalgic and melancholy Six Pieces, Op. 118 were inspired by the death of Elisabeth, and there is little doubt that there was a deep emotional attachment. Like Mahler vicariously learning counterpoint from Zemlinsky through his beloved Alma studying with his rival, von Herzogenberg picked up much Brahmsian idiom through his mate. The string trio in question follows a Brahmsian path, often sounding like a direct imitation.

The Thibaud Trio delivered a solid performance and should be praised lavishly for resurrecting the work (they also perform its twin on a regular basis). The opening Allegro was charged with incipient fugal passages, the Allegretto infused with that “Gypsy” spirit so common in Brahms, the final Allegro exciting and swirlingly dancelike. The work is a bit long, however, and reminded me of Brahms’s maxim that “composing is easy; the hard part is deciding which notes to throw under the table.” Of course, if von Herzogenberg had looked under that table, he might have seen his friend caressing his wife’s leg.

Perhaps the future holds more adventurous explorations for this talented group. Already establishing a niche as an unusual combination of instruments, they may gain further recognition if they unearth lively but dusty treasures from the past. I hope they are learning the magnificent string trios of Schonberg and Webern.

Finally, I truly appreciated Mr. Douvier’s unique combination of shamelessness and ingenuousness. Feeling the need to introduce the von Herzogenberg, he ended his remarks by advertising the fact that the trio is selling its CDs on its Web site. “Just tell us where you live and we will send you some,” he stated, then added “but please send us back a check.” I don’t know how things are done in Berlin, but this might not be the best business plan for New York.