Chamber Music: December 2008 Archives

Alexander Zemlinsky
(1871-1942)

Three Pieces for Cello & Piano (1891)
Sonata in A minor for Cello & Piano (1894)
Trio in D minor for Clarinet, Cello & Piano (1896)

Othmar Mueller, cello
Ernst Ottensamer, clarinet
Christopher Hinterhuber, piano
Naxos 8.570540 64:21

This fine CD was purchased primarily for the beautiful Clarinet Trio, but the cello and piano works are a fantastic discovery. They fill a long-held desire of this listener for more Brahmsian cello music. They contain melodies and rhythms and the same emotional smiling-through-tears found in Brahms. Both of the Zemlinsky cello works had been presumed lost or destroyed, and were found only recently.

The clarinet trio owes its existence even more directly to Brahms, whose own Clarinet Trio predates this one by several years. Brahms recommended the Zemlinsky Trio to the publisher, Simrock. The works on this CD are performed with great sensitivity and superb musicianship.

[ Available on CD: Amazon - UK - Germany - Canada - France - Japan - ArkivMusic - CD Universe ]

[ Sheet music and sound samples for the Trio can be found at Edition Silvertrust
  Sheet music by this composer: Sheet Music Plus – Musicnotes.com ]

Tomás Bretón
(1850-1923)

Four Spanish Pieces (1911) 18:44
Piano Trio in E Major (1887) 34:42

Lom Piano Trio
Naxos 8.570713

Tomás Bretón was known in his day primarily as an operatic and zarzuela composer. The works under review, however, are wonderful examples of his chamber music writing. Naxos is bringing this music back from years of unjust neglect, as part of their Spanish Classics series, a collection well worth exploring. The first two movements and the finale of Bretón's delightful piano trio are good examples of Late Romantic European chamber music. The third movement, dance-like and less formal, definitely speaks with a musical Spanish accent.

The Lom Piano Trio (Joan Orpella, violin; José Mor, cello; and Daniel Ligorio, piano) play this music with verve and spirit. Especially exciting are the Four Spanish Pieces. The third piece, Bolero, has a melody with the charm of a Fritz Kreisler composition.

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[ Sheet music by this composer: Sheet Music Plus – Musicnotes.com ]

Guillaume (Jean Joseph Nicholas) Lekeu
(1870-1894)

Quartet for Violin, Viola, Cello & Piano (1894)
Molto Adagio for String Quartet (1887)
String Quartet (1887)

Jan Michiels, piano
Spiegel String Quartet
Dabringhaus & Grimm MDG6441266-2 72:09

Guillaume Lekeu a Belgian composer who lived for a very short time, studied with César Franck and Vincent d'Indy. His credo, "Je me tue à mettre dans ma musique toute mon âme" (I put my whole heart and soul in my music) is apparent in his chamber music.

This recording opens with a fiery, impassioned violin explosion, but after about thirty seconds settles in to a Fauré-like piano quartet filled with lovely melodies and great part writing. This piano quartet was left unfinished, but completed by d'Indy. The completion is not on this disc.

Lekeu's single movement Adagio and his String Quartet, however, show very strong influence and understanding of Late Beethoven, not just in the part writing, but in the mature mood, the depth of feeling, and the richness of the counterpoint. Special mention should be made of the fifth movement, Poco Allegro e molto scherzoso (track 8). It is a folk-like theme, and twists and turns in delightful sophisticated changes of mode and mood.

The Spiegel Quartet members performing on this fine-sounding disc are Elisa Kawaguti, Stefan Willems, violins; Leo De Neve, viola; Jan Sciffer, cello. The pianist is Jan Michiels.

Read the Classical Net Review

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[ Sheet music by this composer: Sheet Music Plus – Musicnotes.com ]

Ernö Dohnányi
(1877-1960)

Piano Quintet #1 in C minor, Op. 1 (1895)
Piano Quintet #2 in E Flat minor, Op. 26 (1914)
Serenade in C Major for String Trio, Op. 10 (1902)

William Howard, piano
The Schubert Ensemble of London
Hyperion CDA66786 75:51

It's only in fairly recent years that we've been able to explore Dohnányi's output much beyond his Variations on a Nursery Song; there are treasures to be found, the piano quintets among them. The first shows the influence of Brahms and Dvořák while the second, coming nearly twenty years later, is a denser work. The Serenade is quite well-known, with a slow movement of great beauty.

As the more enterprising record companies delve deeper into the nineteenth century, we find more piano quintets to set beside those that are more familiar. These two belong in the best company.

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[ Sheet music by this composer: Sheet Music Plus – Musicnotes.com ]

Karl Goldmark
(1830-1915)

Piano Quintet in B Flat Major, Op. 30 (1879)
Piano Quintet in C Sharp minor, Op. 54 (published 1916)

Oliver Triendl, piano
Quatuor Sine Nomine
CPO 777277-2 74:51

Goldmark is best known for his Rustic Wedding Symphony and his violin concerto, but neither attracts much recording attention, especially in recent years. These two quintets are much in the tradition of the great piano quintets by Schumann, Brahms and Dvořák, with a little Mendelssohnian playfulness. The piano writing is quite muscular without being overpowering, and there are some harmonies that remind us that Goldmark was a Hungarian composer.

[ Available on CD: Amazon - UK - Germany - Canada - France - Japan - ArkivMusic - CD Universe ]

[ Sheet music by this composer: Sheet Music Plus - Musicnotes.com ]