Customer Reviews

Schubert: Quintet, D.667 - The Trout / Sonata,D.821 - Arpeggione / Die Forelle,D.550

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Trout piano quintet is one of Schubert's most beloved compositions and among the most popular chamber music pieces of all time. It abounds with wonderful melodies uniquely Schubertian, and being a youthful work has a unique exuberance and happinness throughout.

It was a commissioned work, by an amateur musician who apparently was a great admirer of Schubert's earlier simple little song entitled the "Trout" ( also included on the record). It is not known whether he asked Schubert to include in the commisioned work a reminder of the song or whether this was Schubert's idea of rewarding this early fan. Whatever the origins, the fourth movement is a set of amazing variations on this lovely song. Each variation highlights one of the players, and shows great mastery and imagination of the young composer.

There are many excellent recordings of the Trout, and this is one of them. The playing is excellent with each part lovingly performed. Though Yo Yo Ma is undoubtedly the superstar of this group, this is a group effort, no one's playing outshining any of the others. Overall, a wonderful and satisfying performance.

I doubt that I would have bought this recording if it only contained the Arpeggione Sonata, which follows the quintet on the CD. Yet as soon as it started, I realized that I was listening to an extraordinary performance. This is absolutely superb exquisite cello playing, ably supported by Emannuel Ax's piano. It has quickly become one of my favorite recordings. It's amazing the depth that Yo Yo Ma has brought to this little piece.

The Arpeggione sonata is so called because it was written for the now extinct Arpeggione instrument, which was a cross between a Guitar and a Cello. It's enthusiastic inventor asked Schubert to compose a piece for it, and so this is another comissioned piece by another minor patron of the arts. We should be grateful for these simple folks that loved Schubert's work enough to pay for his compositions, and thus kept the struggling genius from even worse abject poverty in which he lived most of his short life.

The Arpeggione is long dead, and nowadays the sonata is performed mostly on the cello, though there are transcriptions to guitar and other instruments as well.

As I said earlier, Yo Yo Ma and Ax's reading is an absolute delight. His tone is marvelous, the intonation perfect, the phrasing exquisite. It seems just absolutely right at every turn.

Played on the Cello this sonata is a very hard, demanding virtuosistic piece, since the Arpeggione had six strings, and it's highest string was tuned a full fifth higher than the Cello's. Thus the cellist is often faced with playing in the highest reaches of the instrument, and often very demanding passages at that. Yo Yo Ma's playing seems totally effortless in all of this. More importantly, this is no mere fireworks, but instead it is virtuosity always subordinated to the music itself. Ma and Ax find unsuspected depth in this unassuming piece. The slow movement is moving and intimate, beautiful beyond words. Highly recommended.

We all know Schubert's "Trout." By heart, probably. It one of the many "staples" of classical music that easily ensnares novitiates (like I once was thirty-five years ago) by its tunefulness, wit and penultimate charm. It's also, unfortunately, the kind of work that--- so indelibly ensconced in our psyches--- tends to fall by the musical wayside as our "tastes" develop and we move on to what we think are more "sophisticated" compositions. In essence, we become a tad jaded, if not downright snobby.

What? Yet another Schubert "Trout" spawned onto CD? (We might say, for instance.) There are already enough versions to stock a small aquarium! And, besides, who ever listens to THIS old warhorse anymore, anyway? (We might add.)

Well.

This was EXACTLY what I was thinking as I lifted this 1995 SONY release from the library bin. I was fishing around for something new to interest me (that I don't have readily available)... and... I hooked this, instead.

But, honestly, I think it hooked me! Whatever mindset I had was completely washed away after my first hearing.

No pedestrian performance, this! Quite the opposite. I doubt I've heard more delightful, infectious, joyous playing in a good long while. These musicians, stellar all, are simply having a grand time--- and it radiates throughout every movement. There is verve here, and depth, and surprising wit. Schubert would have delighted in this glorious ensemble. And so will you. This is a magical, glowing, exuberant, life-affirming, smile-raising "Trout." A "Trout" for all seasons, as it were.

The Arpeggione Sonata, D. 821, performed by Ax and Ma, is no less beautifully done. It's a sublime reading filled with real Schubertian depth. Ma's playing is particularly fetching. Just right. Warm and full of melancholy. Ax supports him admirably.

Barbara Bonney's rendition of Die Forelle, D. 550 is a nice closing addition. Ax's rippling piano is delicious.

Glowing, full sound from the SONY engineers.

[Running time: 64:50]

I bought this recording because the disc includes Schubert's song 'The Trout' along with the quintet. This recording of the Trout Quintet is perfectly able to stand its own two fins -- even without the song this disc is worth buying. I found it to be completely enjoyable. The balance between piano and strings is admirable: good engineering, Sony Classical!

This is an adequate rendition of the Trout; it definitely has its moments of inspiration, especially in the Scherzo. However, the Thema lacks the refinement and dramatism of a truly spectacular performance...although the musical intentions of the performers are evident.

The real gem of this CD is the first movement of the Arpeggione. The chemistry between Yo-Yo Ma and Emanuel Ax is superb, and Ma plays the cello with the agility of a violin.

There have been many good recordings of the "Trout" since the advent of sound reproduction and this is a welcome if interpretively slanted addition to the lot. Its characteristics are brisk tempos, muscular phrasings, crisp piano playing and heartfelt lyricism from the strings. The introductory "Allegro Vivace" may be not quite as taut and tight as Schnabel's (1935) or Adès' (2005), but it is dynamic and muscular nonetheless. The strings evince ample lyricism, with an especially felicitous violin and cello interplay at 1:47, and pianist Emmanuel Ax plays with a fine crispness, never overpedalling or covering his partners. In the second movement the tempo is swift, almost urgent: it is one of the fastest I have heard on disc - Paul Badura-Skoda's and the Wiener Konzerthaus Quartet's recording from 1950, one of the earliest mono LP recordings, now on Amiata Records, beats it by a few seconds - really an "Andante" (literally : going, forward-moving) as written by Schubert, rather than an adagio in disguise. At that tempo, and even though the fp marks at 1:00 are soft-grained rather than explosive, it sounds almost jaunty and merry - and perhaps somewhat unyielding - rather than heartfelt and affecting: an option that is certainly neither the last nor the only possible word on the music, but one that is nonetheless not stylistically out of place in this work. Yet, make no mistake: the viola-cello cantilena starting at 1:16 has all the heart-wrenching lyricism you might expect. Again in the Scherzo Ax and friends really take Schubert's "Presto" indication at face value, zip through and again beat records of sorts: it is urgent, almost hurried, with none of the good-natured geniality associated with Schubert; but the players do apply some relaxation of tempo in the middle Trio. There is no lingering either in their utterance of the 4th movement's "Trout" theme (though others, like Curzon and the Vienna Octet members, or Thomas Adès and members of the Belcea Quartet, have been even more forward-moving), and the ensuing variations develop with the same kind of dynamism, leading to a spirited coda. And what a good idea to have added at the end of the disc the little Lied on which Schubert based his theme and variations! Throughout Ax plays with his usual crispness and sparse pedalling, never overpowering his partners, while violinist Pamela Frank emits perky, chirrupy trills in the first variation. The partners top it off with again a muscular and dynamic Finale, reminiscent of Rudolf Serkin and partners at Marlboro in 1967. In sum, this is a muscular and dynamic "Trout", not one for all tastes - and certainly not for those wanting a more "gemütlich" and easy-going Schubert.

The Arpeggione sonata, by 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). Ma emits unfailingly rich and creamy sonorities, with a wealth of vocal inflexions (when performed on cello, the sonata plays a lot in the instrument's upper registers, emulating a high baryton voice), and in the Finale displays awesome virtuosity, evocative of the flight of a bumblebee (1:32).

While I don't profess to be a major music expert, I think this is a fine rendition, and a modern one at that, of Schubert's spirited and cheerful famous "Trout" Quintet. However, it's probably not the best or the one that is most accurate to Schubert's original score. I'm sure there are other recordings out there that perform this piece with period instruments and with more dead-on faithfulness to Schubert's original style. But this is a real treat because it's fresh and crisp, as if it was just composed yesterday and boasts a fine ensemble of musicians, top folk at their craft - Yo-Yo Ma needs no introduction, Pamela Frank on the violin and Emmanuel Ax on the piano.

The chemistry between these artists, including the viola player who is lesser known, is exceptional. They play with miraculous exactitude and technical brilliance. The work is suddenly more alive and bubbly, though in some portions, for contrast, the ensemble plays with a kind of classical seriousnessfound in Haydn or Mozart's chamber works. Schubert, who composed at the time of Beethoven, composed this piece when he was still very young (his early 20's) and when he had not yet fallen ill to the syphillis that killed him. He was not a pretentious man nor did he associate himself with the aristocracy or upper strata of German or Austrian society- as did Beethoven. Instead, he performed in intimate gatherings for friends in their homes, may have just been "jamming" sort to speak when he composed this piece in the beauty of the natural surroundings. It's based on a song he composed about a trout and a fisherman. The work is part of his collection of Lieder, which is numerous. Baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau to my knowledge, has been the best interpreter of this song. In this album, the soprano Barbara Bonney sings the song, though I don't much care for her rendition. This album also features the chamber piece "Arpeggione" sonata, and is played with expert artistry. This is a fine album and one you should own if only to hear the fine work by Yo-Yo Ma, Pamela Frank and Emmanuel Ax, who contribute so much to the Classical and early Romantic Era. They were featured in the soundtrack to the film Immortal Beloved. They specialize in this type of music and are therefore a fine choice.

I don't agree AT ALL with the two reviewers who gave this three stars; there is nothing "plodding" or uninteresting about this version that I can hear. The Trout Quintet is one of those pieces of classical music that one can posit as a very good argument why classical music is the best; it has withstood the test of time better than anything else, and never gets stale. This recording is very much like the All-Star Game in baseball; a collection of superstars, each a premier performer on his or her instrument (in the case of Yo-Yo Ma, Emmanuel Ax, Edgar Meyer, and Rebecca Young - I don't really know very much about Ms. Frank, but it's hard to find any fault with her performance here).

Their performance of the Trout is playful and joyous, and these five artists make this the best performance I have ever heard - even MUCH better than when I played the viola and cello parts! :)

I enthusiastically recommend this recording!

I think the Amazon reviewer has described this CD with complete accuracy. Until this performance of the "Trout" Quintet appeared I had lived enjoyably for decades with a Marlboro Festival reading with Rudolf Serkin (aided by a cricket singing in the background) that exuded the spirit of summer. This new performance is also a product of summer--it was recorded in August, 1995, in Princeton--but evertyhing is taken a bit faster, by almost a minute in each movement except the first, and the added speed helps refresh the listener. That's important because the famous variaitons on Schubert's lied, "Die Forelle," can seem like too much of a good thing. Here, after a bracing (perhaps too bracing) romp through the Scherzo, the variations are still welcome, and the group makes sure to attack them vigorously, not with the usual lazy cheeriness.

It's also no small achievement for this ensemble of virtuosos to play with uncanny single-mindedness. There is not a routine bar of music from first to last. Now I can wait another four decades to buy a new "Trout."

As other reviewers have noted, the duo of Ax and Ma in the Arpeggione Sonata are brilliant, and Barbara Bonney, singing "Die Forelle" as a pendant to the album, keeps up the amazingly high standards of a release that became an instant classic the moment it appeared.

Two beautiful pieces of music by Franz Schubert, the "Trout" quintet, and Die Forelle -- both pieces played perfectly and professionally.

Emanuel Ax and Yo-Yo Ma have long been famous for their frequent collaboration as chamber musicians. Both of them have had highly successful careers as soloists, yet they still reserve plenty of time in their schedule to work together. In this CD, along with violinist Pamela Frank, violist Rebecca Young, and bassist Edgar Meyer, they have turned to what is arguably the finest piece of chamber music ever written - Schubert's "Trout" Quintet.

I am delighted to say that I have been tremendously pleased with this album. Our chamber musicians succeed in interacting on an exciting, yet intimate level. This is Schubert that is alive and sparkling with gaiety, just like it should be. The wonderful 4th movement, the variations on "Die Forelle" (The Trout) comes across especially well. The opening theme is played so well that you will have a tough time not stopping what you are doing to sit and listen. Each variation comes across full of zest and spirit. My favorite variation, the last, will leave the listener with immense satisfaction and zeal for life. The rest of the quintet is likewise well performed.

Following the "Trout" Quintet, we are given a performance of the Arpeggione Sonata. This is far from a mere filler. Ax and Ma give yet another fantastic performance. Compared to the "Trout" Quintet, this piece is rather dark and melancholy. Ma's tone is appropriately soulful and wonderfully rich.

Highly recommended. This is chamber music as good as it gets.