Piano Quintets

[Nick Armstrong]

Love piano quintets. The door was opened by Shostakovich's in my teens, and more recently kept open by hearing Fauré's two... and then so many other great ones.

The Schmitt in post #1 is definitely on my 'to explore' list

Huge soft spot for the Mozart with winds (the Perahia recording with wor Tony on horn a must).

[ahinton]

Again, worth investigating - the two by Bacewicz, the Bax, the Bridge; not sure what to make of Furtwängler's 80-minute one...

[teamsaint]

Also significant......

[BBMmk2]

Any ideas for a recording of the ones by Martinu?

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Any ideas for a recording of the ones by Martinu?

We don't seem to be over-burdened with options here, Bbm, if Amazon is an accurate representation. Recordings of the two Quintets on a single disc look limited to :

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Martinu-Piano-Quintets-Nos-Bohuslav/dp/B000NOIWQW

... and ...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Piano-Solo-Instrumental/Martinu-Piano-Quintets-Quartet-Hybrid/B001L15C7I

... and (the silly price option):

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Piano-Quintets-String-Quartet-Stamic/dp/B000026CZ7

(Used copies of the first two, plus an MP3 of the third won't break the bank if all three recordings were bought.)

[jayne lee wilson]

Any ideas for a recording of the ones by Martinu?

I was listening to the Martinu Quartet/Košárek Naxos one this morning and found it, in comparison, preferable to the Panton - more idiomatic and wth a lovely spacious acoustic (I dislike close-set chamber music, all too frequent).... the Panton/Stamic seemed good too, if a touch airless. Via Qobuz HiFi though, it sounded a touch heavy, a touch less inspired. Nice crunchy quartet textures though compared to the lither, sharper Martinus...
But in No.2 (wonderful piece in the same inspired vein as Symphonies 3 & 4 & closely related) my preference was very clear - the Martinu/Košárek was decidedly more atmospheric and played with lovely, sinuous agility.

You can't go wrong with the Naxos, it's a great recording of some wonderful music. Two very contrasted works! The Praga Digitals Series of Martinu Chamber Music is extravagantly laid-out and presented (the cover art is a pleasure in itself), but musically excellent and I can vouch for the beautifully-recorded Quartet Cycle (Kocian/Prazak - although I just prefer the Panochas in this music). Not heard the Praga Piano Quintets/Quartet collection but, given the performers, it does look a good bet. A good one to move onto if you fall in love with the Naxos/Martinu issue!

[Serial_Apologist]

Also significant......

I see she's been covered on R3, though I'd never heard of her previous to this post!

[teamsaint]

I see she's been covered on R3, though I'd never heard of her previous to this post!

All you have to do is google ( or Duckduckgo) Croatia Piano quintet .

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=croatia+piano+quintet&t=h_&ia=web

[Serial_Apologist]

All you have to do is google ( or Duckduckgo) Croatia Piano quintet .

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=croatia+pi...et&t=h_&ia=web

Thanks for that, TS.

[Richard Barrett]

Thanks Jayne, looking forward to giving the Martinu quintets a listen asap.

[EdgeleyRob]

I see she's been covered on R3, though I'd never heard of her previous to this post!

There is plenty of her chamber music in the Naxos library S_A

[EdgeleyRob]

Well worth hearing IMVHO,as well as those mentioned above,are

Meyer,Beach,Taneyev,Scott and the extraordinary Weinberg

[Stanfordian]

Again, worth investigating - the two by Bacewicz, the Bax, the Bridge; not sure what to make of Furtwängler's 80-minute one...

I admire both the Bax and the Bridge piano quintets. The Furtwangler has too many longueurs for my liking.

[BBMmk2]

Thank you Jayne and Ferney. Most helpful. Will have a go at those!

[ahinton]

Well worth hearing IMVHO,as well as those mentioned above,are

Meyer,Beach,Taneyev,Scott and the extraordinary Weinberg

Extraordinary indeed, for all its affiliations with his mentor DDS...