Customer Reviews

Adolphe Biarent: Piano Quintet in G# minor / Cello Sonata in F# minor

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(This CD is a reissue of ASIN: B00006B1RW.)

This is really a fabulous disc of rare and exquisite fin-de-siècle music by an unfortunately forgotten Belgian composer, issued on the fine Belgian label Cypres.

Biarent is in the line of Franck, Lekeu, Fauré, Chausson, Vierne, and Magnard: i.e., the Franco-Belgian school of fin-de-siècle Wagnerian chamber music.

The pieces on this disc were written in the early-20th century and the first year of WWI.

A fantistic find!

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I admit to having a penchant for exploring musical byways and rarities, but I do think that I am able to make more or less sober assessments of what I come across. Still, there seems to be no way around the fact that the music of the Belgian composer Adolphe Biarent (1871-1916) represents a major discovery of a composer whose negligence is wholly unjustified. Fortunately his music has received a couple of recordings the last couple of years - in fact, both works here have, as far as I can see, alternative recordings (although I haven't heard them) - and hopefully more will follow.

The cello sonata really deserves a place in the standard repertoire and doesn't pale at all in the company of, say, the Debussy or Rachmaninov sonatas. It is a large-scale, big-boned work that owes something to Cesar Franck and d'Indy, both formally and harmonically, but is fully individual and magnificently laid out for the instruments; gorgeously opulent and vibrantly dramatic, it doesn't contain a single dull or unmemorable moment or idea during its 35 minutes. Similarly, the piano quintet is inventive and thematically strong; Brahms and Franck are clear influences (but the quintet doesn't really sound anything like the piano quintets of either composer), wonderfully melodic and with a dramatic tension and energy beyond comparison. It contains no real slow movement, but consists of two huge, dramatic outer movements flanking a short, evocative intermezzo.

Fortunately the performances are superb; Diane Andersen comes across as a fabulous chamber musician, impressively sensitive both to the musical lines and the chamber textures. In the cello sonata Marc Drobinsky is unfazed by the technical challenges, playing with a rich tone and fully conveying the shattering drama of the music, whereas the Danel Quartet is equally excellent in the quintet. It is all captured in vivid, detailed sound and a delectable packaging. Very, very strongly recommended.

This is a remarkable piece of chamber music and the performance measures up to the score. I heard this on my XM Satellite Radio and had to track it down for myself. Took a while but it was worth the wait. It's a monster of piece - the first movement is almost 20 minutes in length! Thoroughly enjoyable and a must-have for any lover of chamber music.