Customer Reviews

Taneyev: Chamber Music

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As an aficionado of chamber music, I thought I was familiar with all the great piano quintets. I had heard that Taneyev's contribution to the genre was a massive work and this was confirmed by my perusal of the score (which was the direct impetus for the purchase of this recording). Well, it's been a very long time since I was absolutely bowled over and mesmerized by a piece of music, but this quintet is truly a stunning masterpiece from the somber opening to the jubilant conclusion, and certainly deserves to be played along with those of Schumann, Brahms, and especially Dvorák. In my opinion, it's the greatest work of chamber music ever composed by a Russian, making it incomprehensible to me that Taneyev's music has been so neglected.

The first movement is a turbulent piece in sonata form with a sweetly tender second subject (in the unorthodox key of A flat major) which contains two very expressive and poignant features: a rising seventh in its second bar and a Neapolitan sixth in its penultimate bar. What's even more unusual about this melody (and something I realized only after multiple hearings) is that its first six notes are an inversion of the first theme's initial six notes! Pay special attention to this melody as it will return at the very end of the work in a most grandiose and spectacular fashion. The second movement is a deft almost Mendelssohnian scherzo in E flat major with a beautiful trio that returns in the da capo in combination with the scherzo theme (Taneyev was a master of counterpoint and even wrote a book about it). In this da capo section, a slight deviation from the score occurs in the third and fourth bars after figure 144 (on page 60 of the score), where the triple-stopped cello chords are played arco instead of pizzicato. The slow movement is based entirely on a descending C major scale above which is placed a most beautiful melody. It's almost like a passacaglia with a ground bass that is repeated 40 times accompanying music of haunting beauty. The finale is another stormy movement which ultimately leads to a reprise of the second subject of the first movement in an ecstatic peroration. Once heard, you will never forget the way that initially tender and unassuming lyrical melody is transformed into a rapturous G major paean of triumph. That rising seventh I mentioned earlier lends this melody a particularly blissful quality, especially noticeable when the first violin and the cello soar to stratospheric heights in the coda while playing at the upper limits of their registers. This coda is extraordinarily beautiful and ends the quintet in a tremendous outpouring of sound unlike that in any other chamber work I know. In the final seven bars, as indicated in the score ("quasi campane"), the piano actually imitates the pealing of bells!

Coming immediately after the joyous conclusion of the quintet, the trio is a bit anticlimactic, but it is still a beautiful masterwork that doesn't deserve its neglect. My favorite movement is the ferocious scherzo. It is easily the equal of any of the standard piano trios that are played over and over again. The score of the quintet is available free of charge from IMSLP (sorry, but amazon won't let me post the URL--just search for the work under Taneyev). The performance of Mikhail Pletnev et al is blazing in intensity and flawless in execution. Not surprisingly, this CD has been named chamber music recording of the year by Gramophone Magazine. If you have any appreciation for chamber music (and especially if you don't), you owe it to yourself for the sake of your soul to purchase this recording, so click that "buy now" button right away.

Being an extreme fan of Chamber Music, I purchased this recording of Taneyev's Piano Quintet and Trio. The music is late Russian Romantic music which I love. Upon my first three exposures to this album I really didn't appreciate Taneyev's music-it`s my first exposure to same. When finally I had some very private time to myself and I could sit down and REALLY listen to the album, the music on the album really GRABED me. The music on this album does not yield its riches easily; however, once it does, WOW! Taneyev's music is rather dense and very contrapuntal with its melodies, at first, rather hidden and, to me, hard to decipher. Once I took the time to intently listen I was able to grasp what Taneyev was trying to "say" with his music.

I was really moved by these works and by this recording. Mikhail Pletnev, at piano, leads a marvelous group of musicians (including Lynn Harrell on cello) that are capable of bring these wonderful compositions to life especially when one takes the time to really listen to them.

DGG is up to their very high standards in this recording providing wonderful warm sound

So if you enjoy Romantic Chamber Music, as I do, buy this disc. Be sure, however, to sit down, in your quiet space, and LISTEN to it intently---Taneyev's music deserves a really GOOD listening to. Believe me, it is worth the effort.

(Word of warning: the furocious 1st and 4th moments of the quintet, as played by Mikhail Pletnev and this group, really knocked my shoes and socks off--not to mention other articles of clothing!The second movement of the "Trio" also dispensed with articles of my clothing--as played in this recording, it's very exciting!)

Taneyev's music is highly individual, and this album is a wonderful demonstration of this. Some have referred to him as a sort of Romantic Bach on account of his use of counterpoint. I came across this album in my library system. At first, I did not respond to it; but then again, I did not truly listen. But after listening to the first movement of the Quintet, I knew this was a keeper, so I purchased it through a music club.

The disc is exceptionally well filled, over 82 minutes in all! If you like chamber music, you should buy this. If you do not like chamber music, you must buy this. I didn't think myself much of a chamber music fan before I got this recording. The artists do fabulously in this repertoire; I do not imagine this account being outdone any time soon. The DG recording serves them well, very well. The Quintet is my favorite work, all four movements being quite amazing. Deserving of anyone's attention.

Once the Soviet Union crumbled, emigre Russians have exposed the West to more of their repertoire than ever before. Besides the aristocratic Taneyev (1856-1915), who was born midway between Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov, another beneficiary has been Myaskovsky and his many, many symphonies. Yet these new introductions have been slow to stick. Without a super-star ensemble led by Pletnev and the prestige of DG, I doubt that Taneyev would be any better known today than he was a generation ago. To boot, his proficiency in counterpoint raises the specter of academic conservatism (Reger, anybody?). Still, the prospect of a major new piano quintet and trio is attractive -- the same pull drew me to the Piano Quintet of Franz Schmidt some years ago, although it never took hold.

I won't try to improve upon the description of the Piano Quintet offered by the lead reviewer, who instantly became enraptured. From the outset Taneyev sets a striking, poignant mood with a wandering theme, not quite a melody, that casts a spell. A 20-min. first movement is quite ambitious -- Tchaikovsky employs sweeping passion in his Piano Trio, also built on a huge scale -- and Taneyev doesn't possess Tchaikovsky's melodic gifts. The lyrical second subject announced in the piano is close to Chopin, but Taneyev doesn't have his harmonic gifts, either. So we are caught betwixt and between. There's enough variety and attractive gestures to keep one's attention, although I wouldn't call tis captivating music unless it just happens to get under your skin (some feel that way about the two Faure Piano quartets, for example, another special taste). Here, the romantic turbulence is decidedly civilized, even though Taneyev has mastered the entire Romantic vocabulary.

The Scherzo is playful and spriely, with touches of Mendelssohn's fairy land and Liszt's gnomes in a roundelay. It, too, is very attractive without being riveting, and one has to admire the variety of sparkling gestures that Taneyev has mastered. Boredom is never an issue as he finds a dozen way to mix voices and color. The theme of the slow movement is marked in unison blocks of quarter notes. This thumping beginning immediately leads to tender contrapuntal melody with the piano and cello echoing a descending scale to remind us that the opening was there to provide a spine for the rest of the movement. The melody enjoys itself so much that it's reluctant to get to the point. If Rachmaninov's discursive style doesn't bother you, Taneyev's excursions won't, either.

By the time the finale arrives, the composer has revealed himself as an imaginative, if somewhat too polite, academic with a soul. His imagination isn't inspired in the finale, despite some heroic leaps of faith at the very end. I kept thinking that I was sitting under Schumann's window listening to him practicing ad lib. In all, an enjoyable, ambitious work with lots of moments and sometimes more than that. For ingenuity I'd give Taneyev a gold star, with a chance that I will remember his Piano Quintet even beyond Korngold's lavish, lush one.

Earlier reviewers at Amazon, and most of the critics, hailed the Piano Quintet and found the Piano Trio a lesser work. Who has written equally for both groupings? Shostakovich, dvorak, and Schubert, certainly. Some might add Schumann, and here Taneyev has a hard time escaping Schumann's shadow. The Scherzo has a faint flavor of Russian dance, but Taneyev is no nationalist, and even a whiff of vodka is hard to detect outside this movement. Perhaps its Victorian gentility put critics off, but the Piano Trio is quite accomplished in its way, and the threat of mind-numbing counterpoint doesn't materialize. In both works the Scherzos brought the most pleasure, and if they appeal to you, you are likely to be pleased throughout, either a great deal or not.

DG's sound is impeccable and so are the performances, as one would expect.

This is a wonderful CD. Too bad its not readily/easily available in the retail store. I'm glad I was able to find it here.

Taneyev was unknown to me after decades of study, and I am so thankful to Pletnev for bringing these works to our attention. I first heard this piano trio on XM Classics radio, so I bought the album. What a joy to get to know the Quintet! It took me several listenings to get to know the piece, but that has always been my experience with Brahms, too. Now I can say that this is still my favorite piece of chamber music. Read about Taneyev on Wikipedia, too. He was in the thick of things with Tchaikovsky, Scriabin, The Five, and Tolstoy, whose wife, well....

The two works on this disc are completely uninteresting. I guess I should have expected it after reading so many reviewers complimenting Taneyev's contrapuntal abilities. When a lot of ink is spilled praising a composer's technique, that's a warning that he's actually pretty boring. Check out the number of CDs in the used pile. 'Nuff said.