Listening to this performance of Clara Schumann's Piano Trio, one can well...

Récemment remarqué chez le même éditeur pour une intégrale Franck des plus...

Over the course of the year or so since this disc in Audite's ongoing survey of Franck's music was first released it has easily become one of my favourites in the series (alongside the same artists' recording of his two string sextets*). Both quintets recorded here re-affirm Franck's sterling command of large scale musical structures – the opening movements, while not innovative in their approach to sonata form, wear their length well and there is not a wasted note in either one; more importantly, he seems to have an instinctive gift for animating those traditional structures with music that flows naturally and organically so that one feels that form and content are perfectly matched. Although separated by more than two decades (according to the liner notes) there is not a great deal of stylistic disparity between the two quintets: Franck seems to have remained true to the Early Romantic idiom that he found congenial early in his career and, when it worked so well for him, why not?

The first quintet is a rare and welcome foray into the minor for Franck (based on the chamber music recorded thus far). The opening statement, with its melodic rise and fall, is – as the booklet essay quite rightly notes – a melancholy one and notwithstanding a more animated passage before the consolatory second subject is presented, that is the prevailing atmosphere of the double exposition; the well-wrought development section introduces a surprising element of drama, however, which is to return after the recapitulation with music of deep feeling in the magnificent coda. Although the vivacious animation of the scherzo stands in marked contrast to the preceding movement, in mood it is not far removed, and remains in the home key – indeed, it is striking in this work how Franck maintains the overall tone even in livelier movements such as the scherzo and the finale, which latter emphatically avoids a major key resolution at the end; even the noble 'Andante con espressione', which opens in the warm key of G major darkens during its course, the beautifully effected contrapuntal writing (one of Franck's undoubtable strengths) contributing much to the increasing air of tension.

The second quintet opens with music of flowing animation, a fine example of Franck's not inconsiderable gift for melody; although in C major, this is not resolutely sunny music (even while it doesn't have the marked melancholy of the earlier work) and presents a more chiaroscuro, bittersweet tone that you will recognise, if you are familiar with Franck's chamber oeuvre, as echt-Franck. The counterpoint that opens the development section, while mostly eschewing the more dramatic gestures of the respective part of the first quintet, introduces a tense, shadowy atmosphere only briefly interrupted by a more forthright central episode. It is followed by an 'Andante' that opens with a striking suggestion that in the tension between major and minor modes, the minor has won out – and indeed, this emotionally profound movement only moves towards the home key of C major at the very end, the solace of the more cantabile secondary material having been challenged on several occasions by the opening statement. Disquiet marks the minuet that follows – a curious decision to choose this "obsolete" form over the scherzo if the dating of the quintet to 1870 is correct but it works nonetheless in the context of the piece as a whole and has a tone that is suitably archaic. This brief, trio-less movement is followed by a finale in theme-and-variations form, a musical device at which Franck is a dab hand and this is one of the best examples of it in his chamber output, I would say: like the preceding movements, there is a mixture of light and shade here and some of the slower variations display the same expressive weight as the "Andante", though the finale eventually concludes with a decisive turn to the major.

As with the previous releases of Franck's music from Audite, the performances are second to none; these are, so far at least, the only recordings of these works but its hard to imagine them being bettered, such is the evident sympathy Edinger and her fellow artists evince for the music not to mention the technical excellence of their playing. The sound quality matches the fine values of the performances and cannot be faulted.

The revival of Eduard Franck's music (and that of his son, Richard, an equally rewarding composer) has until recently been the almost sole preserve of the German label Audite; now, however, Naxos has recorded some of his music** which I am sure – given that label's international profile and broad distribution – will bring Franck's name and music to a wider public. Many who have been following Audite's journey through Franck's extant works will probably already own this disc, but if you have come across the new Naxos release and are wondering where to go next in exploring Franck's chamber music you could do no worse than to try this disc or the same artists' recording of the string sextets, both of which contains some of his most rewarding and enjoyable music. Moreover, for anyone interested in German chamber music during the Romantic period, I would say this is required listening.

Highly recommended.

Einer der kreativsten und doch vom Publikum wenig beachteten Komponisten des 20. Jahrhunderts ist Ernst Krenek. Kreneks Musik, und darin liegt vielleicht der Grund, warum sie so selten gespielt wird, ist sperrig und eigenwillig. Im Vergleich zu verschiedenen Kompositionen der Meister der Zweiten Wiener Schule klingt sie jedoch recht versöhnlich.

Die Sonate für Solo-Violine Nr. 1 op. 33 aus dem Jahre 1925 ist ein Werk von 34 Minuten. Das Adagio alleine dauert bereits 12 Minuten. Insgesamt stellt dieses Werk den Solisten spieltechnisch vor eine recht schwierige Aufgabe. Die 2. Sonate für Violine op. 115 wurde 23 Jahre später komponiert, ist mit 9 Minuten recht knapp aber dafür sehr anspruchsvoll. Das gilt auch für die Triophantasie op. 63 für Violine, Cello und Klavier sowie die polyphone Sonate für Violine und Klavier.

Jede der vier Kompositionen berührt eine bestimmte Lebens- und Schaffensphase von Ernst Krenek, so dass diese Werke an sich sehr verschieden sind und die Entwicklung wie auch das Können des Komponisten sehr klar darstellen. Die Interpretationen sind hervorragend, und wenn auch Holger Spegg, Klavier und Mathias Beyer-Karlshoj, Cello wunderbar musizieren, so liegt die Hauptlast doch auf den Schultern des Violinisten. Und der ist in diesem Falle Christoph Schickedanz, der uns mit einem ganz hervorragenden Spiel immer wieder begeistert. Spieltechnisch machen ihm die komplexen Krenek-Werke überhaupt keine Probleme und ausdrucksmäßig überrascht der Violinist immer wieder durch sein sehr berührendes und schönes Spiel wie auch durch seinen präzisen Umgang in Sachen musikalische Farbgebung.

Le programme de ce CD, avec des compositions d’un compositeur méconnu, donne une bonne idée de l’œuvre de Krenek et de son évolution. Les interprétations sont excellentes, le violoniste Christoph Schickedanz méritant une mention spéciale pour son jeu savamment colorié et souvent touchant.

The program of this CD gives a very good introduction to Krenek’s chamber music. The performances are excellent, violinist Christoph Schickedanz deserving special praise for his colorful and touching reading.

The Cremonas playing [...] is full of passion, with ensemble spot on. These players are so alive to the music.

I am fortunate in that I have played in piano Trio groups, as well as in string...

Laura Ruiz Ferreres' Einspielung der Kammermusik mit Klarinette von Johannes...

[...] Musikalisch und spieltechnisch sind beide Instrumente enorm gefordert, was sich die Oboistin und ihre hochsensible Klavierpartnerin Akiko Yamashita nirgends anmerken lassen. So soll es sein!

The piano duo of Mona and Rica Bard, German sisters, make their recording debut here in a well-chosen program of French masterpieces. They play with all of the control, finesse, and impeccable ensemble of the very best two-piano teams. The SACD recording’s careful, unobtrusive miking and very wide dynamic range splendidly capture the Bards’ wide range of instrumental color.

The program contains two French four-hand staples: Milhaud’s Scaramouche and Bizet’s Jeux d’enfants. I never tire of hearing Milhaud’s familiar three-movement piece, which sparkles in the Bards’ performance. (It, along with Le boeuf sur le toit and La création du monde, must be Milhaud’s most popular music. These pieces remain fresh, but the rest of his huge output contains a wealth of wonderful, neglected music that’s due for revival.) One often hears the Bizet Jeux d’enfants, a 12-movement suite, in its orchestrated version, but the piano version is preferable and this is one of many fine recordings of it.

Happily, the Bards bypass some of the more overplayed standbys of the French repertoire—the Fauré Dolly Suite, Debussy Petite Suite, and the Ravel Ma mere l’oye— choosing to make their French program more substantial. Ravel composed the two-piano version of the Rhapsodie espagnol before the orchestral version. Though it has received many recordings, I was unfamiliar with it and find it remarkable. The Bard sisters create so many contrasting colors, control quiet dynamic levels so well, and bring such a natural Spanish lilt to the work that they make a convincing case for the two-piano version being in no way inferior to Ravel’s orchestration. The opening of the “Feria” is a particuarly stunning example.

Poulenc’s Sonata for Two Pianos, composed in 1952-1953, is not an overly familiar work, and it is one of his most serious, much more ambitious than the Sonata for Four-Hands, particularly its slow, bell-tolling “Prologue.” Concluding the disc is the gentle, melancholy Elegie, Poulenc’s final work, written in 1959 when he was 60, the year of Pierre Bernac’s retirement.

The booklet notes mention that the Bard sisters have received “artistic impulses” from contact with, among others, Katia Labèque, Aloys Kontarsky, and Andreas Groethuysen and indeed, they combine the qualities that I associate with some of the 20th-century’s best duo piano teams: the Labèque sisters’ verve and dynamism, the Kontarsky brothers’ rigor and clarity, and Tal and Groethuysen’s sensitivity.

Laura Ruiz Ferreres' Einspielung der Kammermusik mit Klarinette von Johannes...