Search - Schubert, Amfc :: Quintet for Piano & Strings

Enriching

David Saemann | 03/12/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"First the bad news. The sound engineering on this recording is rather distant. It gives you a sense of the ensemble's entire sonority, but little of some of the individual performances. The double bass in particular is hard to pick out. If you want a recording that enables you to hear the entire piece line for line, I would recommend the Jeno Jando/Kodaly Quartet performance on Naxos. That said, this is a very fine Trout Quintet. The real stars are pianist Hamish Milne and first violin Kenneth Sillito. Milne plays with great variety of touch, and an appealing sense for sonorities. This is not a performance that emulates a fortepiano, but instead uses all the attributes of a modern instrument. However, it is not over inflated--the textures and scale are sensible throughout. Sillito is delicious, a real virtuoso first violin with plenty to say about the music. This is perhaps not the only Trout one would want to have, because of the engineering, but it is an enriching experience."