Gabriel Faure: Piano Quartets No.1 & 2 [IMPORT]

Timothy Hugh (Performer), Gabriel Faure (Composer), Domus Ensemble (Orchestra), Susan Tomes (Performer), Robin Ireland (Performer), Krysia Osostowicz (Performer)

Product Details

• Performer: Timothy Hugh, Susan Tomes, Robin Ireland, Krysia Osostowicz
• Orchestra: Domus Ensemble
• Composer: Gabriel Faure
• Audio CD (March 4, 1993)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Hyperion UK
• ASIN: B000002ZI8
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #107,913 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Track Listings

1. Piano Quartet No. 1 in C minor, Op. 15: Allegro molto moderato

2. Piano Quartet No. 1 in C minor, Op. 15: Scherzo. Allegro vivace

3. Piano Quartet No. 1 in C minor, Op. 15: Adagio

4. Piano Quartet No. 1 in C minor, Op. 15: Allegro molto

5. Piano Quartet No. 2 in G minor, Op. 45: Allegro molto moderato

6. Piano Quartet No. 2 in G minor, Op. 45: Allegro molto

7. Piano Quartet No. 2 in G minor, Op. 45: Adagio non troppo

8. Piano Quartet No. 2 in G minor, Op. 45: Allegro molto

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

There are three great chamber music composers from the second half of the 19th century: Brahms, Dvorák, and Fauré. Of the three, Fauré is by far the least well known, even in France. French music in the 19th century was almost entirely centered on opera and ballet, and while Fauré did make at least one contribution to the operatic stage (Penelope), he was far more involved in composing chamber music and songs. The two piano quartets are both extremely fine works, beautifully crafted, and full of warmly Romantic melody. This disc was one of the first by non-French performers to make the case for Fauré as a truly great composer of chamber music, and it still sounds very impressive. --David Hurwitz

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Award-Winning Performances, February 13, 2006

By	Alan Lekan (Boulder, CO) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Just a short addition to the other fine reviews here: This recording by the UK ensemble Domus - along with the matching one of the Piano Quintets - was lavishly decorated by the British music press with many awards. Penguin gave both their coveted "Rosette" rating along with a "Recommended Recording" citing while Gramophone richly rewarded both CD's with the top "Gramophone Award" for chamber music that year. When these two major reviewers agree like that, one can be assured something special is there which is the case with this CD. (but the sound quality is hardly best-in-class).

Faure is something of a neglected French Romantic composer hiding in the shadows of Debussy, Ravel and others. Yet, his music is some of the most equisite, beautiful and rewarding - from the Violin Sonatas (Tomes/Osostowicz) to the Piano Trio (Floristan Trio w/Tomes) to the Piano Quartets here. All are worth hearing and exploring if you like chamber or French Romantic music.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant Faure, July 2, 2000

By	"marcel195" (Victoria Australia) - See all my reviews

I was apprehensive at first, being used to the Collard-style of Faure piano. "Who is Susan Tomes?" I thought. Well, I now know she is a great pianist who fits perfectly among the "Domus Quartet". This is really nice music; amongst the best of Faure's work. And these musicians really do it superbly. Not just for fans of Faure, all music lovers will appreciate this. And the quality of the recording is excellent. There isn't much in the way of inside-sleeve notes, but it comes in three languages so those studying French or German will certainly get their money's worth.

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars HEART AND SOUL, February 1, 2004

By	DAVID BRYSON (Glossop Derbyshire England) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This pair of performances won a Gramophone award a few years back. I also feel considerable enthusiasm for it, whether for the same reasons as the Gramophone judges I now can't remember.

Despite that award, this disc is attracting surprisingly little comment nowadays. The quartets seem absolutely marvellous music to me, but one of the practical barriers to a wider audience for them is probably that Faure's music is a frustrating combination of technically difficult and not at all showy. He was one of the most subtle and original harmonists there has ever been (the second quartet being very notable in this respect), and certainly as far as the piano writing is concerned he keeps taking one's fingers where they are not expecting to go. These accounts are outstanding for their naturalness and spontaneity. They probably make the music sound a lot easier than it actually is, and that is no doubt the nub of the matter because any sense of effort or struggle would kill music like this. It is all very `professional' in its way, but by today's standards not especially refined. The pianist in particular, while very accurate, is - what am I trying to say? - no Michelangeli. I have only one life, and this record has enhanced it. I can imagine smoother, but whether that would be better in any sense I could recognise I simply do not know, and I simply do not care.

A certain amount of dutiful comment sometimes attends the first quartet relating it to the composer's failed engagement. All this, in my personal view, is best ignored. Faure's emotions were doubtless as strong as Wagner's for all I know. The real point in that comparison is that they represent, musically, opposite poles. Wagner thought, not unreasonably, that he was riding the tide of history in his commitment to music that was not `absolute' in the sense that Bach's music was that, but which bound itself to an underlying poetic or dramatic idea. He had every reason to believe this - other than Chopin no composer that I can think of since Bach's time was an undiluted `absolute' musician. Then there was, abruptly, Brahms. Anything but unemotional, anything but indifferent to women, Brahms simply revived a tradition that had not died and only slept. Whatever their personal emotions, Brahms and Faure express music purely, as Bach had done - they do not use music to express something else. Listen to this wonderful music just for itself.