Customer Reviews

Booty Club Classics

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Mozart: Clarinet Quintet in A, Gervase de Peyer and the Melos Ensemble of London
Schubert: Piano Quintet in A (Trout), Hephzibah Menuhin and Amadeus Quartet
Schubert: Adagio and Rondo Concertante in F, Melos Ensemble of London

Two of the most popular chamber works of all time are on this CD, along with a little-known early chamber piece by Schubert. Mozart wrote the Clarinet Quintet for a famous clarinetist of his day, Anton Stadler, to perform. Actually, it was written for the Basset Clarinet, which had a lower range and a more mellow sound than today's clarinets, but is usually performed on a regular clarinet today. It is probably Mozart's best known chamber work, and there are many, many recordings of it available. The second "larghetto" movement is absolutely gorgeous, and in the hands of an accomplished clarinet player can send chills up and down one's spine.

Gervase de Peyer performed frequently with the Melos Ensemble (not to be confused with the Melos Quartet), and that shows in this fine collaborative recording. De Peyer plays his clarinet smoothly, without any harsh notes such as one sometimes hears in the upper register of the instrument. The larghetto, in sonatina form, is taken a little faster than some other performances and perhaps loses just a bit of dreaminess as a result, but it still tingles my spine. The minuet movement is unusual for Mozart in that it has two trios. Altogether, this is an excellent performance of this much played quintet. The remastered recording dates from 1964, in the early days of stereo, but the sound quality is quite good. The recorded clarinet sounds very much like a real clarinet to me.

Schubert's "Trout" Quintet has been recorded almost as much as the Mozart Quintet. Here, pianist Hephzibah Menuhin (sister of Yehudi Menuhin) performed with the well-known Amadeus Quartet, perhaps the leading quartet of its time. Written when Schubert was 22, this quintet has many of the features: unusual key relationships, abrupt transitions, and the like, that also characterize many of Schubert's later compositions. Also, Schubert unconventionally uses a bass fiddle instead of a second violin to make up the string ensemble. The variations of the fourth movement are based on Schubert's song "Die Forelle" (The Trout), written a few years earlier and give the quintet its nickname.

Menuhin's piano playing is restrained enough so that it is in good balance with the string parts but provides strong sforzando accents where needed. The participants perform like they are perfectly at home with this music and enjoying every moment. However, the piece was recorded in 1958; it has been remastered, but possibly from an original monaural tape. The sound is rather constrained and the base is on the weak side.

The final work on the CD, Schubert's Adagio and Rondo Concertante in F (D487) is performed by the Melos Ensemble of London, with Lamar Crowson at the piano and once again a string ensemble of violin, viola, cello, and bass. The rondo section of this two-part piece features bravura piano playing, unusual for Schubert. It is pleasant enough but somewhat repetitious music. The sound, recorded in 1964, is fine enough, but the piano is a bit too dominant compared to the strings.

The Amazon site for this CD now (2011) has only used copies for sale, so it's worth pointing out that the above performance of the Mozart Quintet is available new on another Seraphim CD, where it is coupled with the Brahms Clarinet Quintet. Also, the Schubert Trout performance is available new on the EMI Classics label, where it is coupled with Schubert's two piano trios and the Notturno. I haven't heard the performances of the other pieces on these two alternate CD's so I can't comment on them as a whole.

Finally, as the other comment points out, the Amazon listing of this CD has somehow been confused with "Booty Club Classics," which has nothing to do with this CD. If you are interested in acquiring this CD, be sure you get the 1997 release. The ones from 1999 and 2000 are the Booty Club stuff!

Errr...since when are the Mozart Clarinet Quintet or the Schubert Trout Quintet "Booty Club Classics?" I'm just curious as to how this ended up like this.

Haven't heard this particular recording, so I can't actually comment on it. Just wanted to note the egregious listing error! And since they make you give a star rating...I'll go middle of the road with 3.