Schubert, F.: String Quintet / Piano Quintet, "Trout"/ Spohr, L.: Concerto for String Quartet / Schumann, R.: Piano Quintet

Presentación del Álbum

To celebrate its 200th anniversary and thereby securing its position as the longest-standing string quartet in music history, the storied Gewandhaus-Quartett has released this marvelous two-disc set that finds the quartet members joined by some of their colleagues from the Gewandhaus Orchestra. The program features several works of historical significance to the group, including the Schubert Two-Cello Quintet (arguably one of the finest chamber music compositions ever written), the Louis Spohr Concerto for string quartet and orchestra (one of only a handful of compositions for those forces), Schumann's E flat Piano Quintet, and finally Schubert's "Trout" Quintet. The first three of these works are performed by the quartet as it existed in 2008 and yield the same robust, vigorous interpretations, tight intonation, crisp articulation, and brilliant matching of tone that has kept the group together for more than two centuries. NCA's recorded sound, as in previous cases, is on the bright side. This is especially noticeable in the Schubert Two-Cello Quintet where even the second cello's wailing open C-string doesn't add as much depth as one might hope. It is the finale of the album, however, that is of special interest. The "Trout" Quintet is performed not by today's Gewandhaus-Quartett, but the quartet from 1928. The restored sound here is rather remarkable for a sample taken from so early in the development of recorded technology. What it does prove, though, is that the Gewandhaus-Quartett continues to stock itself with top-notch players capable of carrying the group for another 200 years.
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