Search - Franz [Vienna] Schubert, Emanuel Ax :: Schubert: "Trout " Quintet

Cheaper reissue of a fine recording from 1995, with the loss

Discophage | France | 09/21/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Sony has of course in its catalog one recording of the "Trout" quintet which has universally been recognized as a truly "great performance" since its first publication in 1967: the one by Rudolf Serkin and his partners from the Marlboro festival, now available with Mozart's clarinet quintet performed by Harold Wright (Schubert: Piano Quintet "Trout"; Mozart: Clarinet Quintet). Still, the present recording from 1995 around stars Emmanuel Ax and Yo-Yo Ma is also a fine, albeit interpretively slanted performance. Its values are brisk and almost hard-driven tempos throughout, muscular phrasings, crisp piano playing and ample lyricism from the strings. For more developed comments, see my review under the original issue: Schubert: Quintet, Op. 114 "The Trout" / Sonata, D. 821 "Arpeggione". Not a "Trout" for all tastes then and especially not for those who prefer a more easy-going, genial Schubert, but one that is treasurable precisely for its radicalism of approach. With the welcome addition of the Lied on which Schubert based his "Trout" variations, here nicely if lightly sung by Barbara Bonney, the Arpeggione sonata, played by the Ma-Ax duet, is a significant filler and a welcome complement to the weightier, more brooding and wistful approach of Rostropovich and Britten in 1968 (Decca Schubert, Debussy / Rostropovich, Britten). Ma emits unfailingly rich and creamy sonorities, with a wealth of vocal inflexions, and in the Finale displays awesome virtuosity. Thanks to this reissue, some 10 years after its original publication, you can now get it for cheaper, but at the cost of the original booklet's program notes, which are now reduced to an insignificant blurb. Well, it is for you to decide if a more developed pabulum is worth the extra bucks. I didn't think so."

And now for something a little different!

Everett Leiter | New York, NY | 12/24/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I've heard many performances of the famous "Trout" Quintet, both live and in recording. I have always loved this masterpiece. The performance in this recording, however, casts the piece under a new light. This performance is no genial serenade: it is a vigorous interpretation with fast tempos, accents marked more than typically, and dramatic dynamic contrasts. I very much enjoyed the clearly marked direction in which each phrase was shaped. The ensemble playing is superb, each instrument (including the piano) playing with sparkling and varied color. Movements 1 and 3 are played with a thrilling excitement that I have never heard brought to this piece before. Fasten your seatbelts! Overall, this strikes me as a very modern interpretation of Schubert. Somehow, I suspect that with Schubert's piano, the same dramatic effect may not have been possible or even intended. Nevertheless, as a modern listener, I found this interpretation to be valid and very musically satisfying. Highly recommended."