Piano Quintets

Two outstanding features of this recording: (1) The compositions themselves. These two composer friends excelled in chamber music, perhaps the most cerebral of all musical forms. What is more remarkable is the superior quality of their work - the ingenuity, originality and verve that both brought to the genre. They set the standard that others have tried to match ever since.

The two works are in turn dramatic, haunting, intense, melodic, extremely inventive - the hallmarks of mid-Romanticism. The Brahms Quintet in F Minor is one of the 19th Century Musical Cornerstones - what an accomplishment.

(2) The Kodaly Quartet is perfect for this pair in both temperament and persuasion. They are as much craftsmen as artists and this fact gives their Romantic playing such a firm basis. The Kodaly is one of the finest in the world and has been woefully underrated. (I have numerous recordings of theirs, all top notch.) Their interpretation is always correct - nothing eccentric or in left field. This is a MUST CD.

It may be true that the best things in life are free, but there are some none-too-shabby accessories that cost only six bucks and add to the pleasure of it all. This CD is exhibit A for that little generalization. These two quintets are major, milestone pieces for both composers, and most labels are too miserly to put them together, preferring instead to attach a minor piece to each and leave it at that, hoping you'll buy both. Not so Naxos-a label that has become synonymous with quality and quantity.

Jando and the Kodaly Quartet have separately established their reputations as formidable interpreters of the Viennese and Romantic traditions: Jando with his Mozart, Beethoven, and Liszt; the Kodaly Quartet with their Haydn. Their coming together on this recording is a triumph, and I can't imagine (and certainly haven't heard) a more satisfying performance of either piece. Their playing is forthright, vigorous, and appropriately dramatic, which is entirely in keeping with the scope and scale of what Schumann and Brahms composed. The sound is rich and full, and the piano part is quite forward. I don't think Jando pushes his presence at all, but I've heard the two pieces in performance in the last year and I was surprised how comparatively understated the piano part was in both. In any case, I like, without reservation, the lack of restraint Jando and the Kodaly go for here.

As for the quintets themselves, they represent mid-nineteenth-century Romanticism at its best, and only Shostakovitch and Faure can even approach them where this genre as a whole is concerned. While it doesn't quite possess the monumental qualities of his opus 25 and 26 piano quartets, the Brahms quintet is still massively ambitious in its conception, and it seems to combine the drama of his first piano quartet with the lyrical introspection and spaciousness of the second. The work just teems with ideas: from the wild entrance of the piano part in the first movement; to one of the saddest, most beautiful andantes I've ever heard; to the expansive finale, which seems an entire work in and of itself.

I bought this CD because I wanted a copy of the Brahms quintet; however, I have to say the Schumann quintet has become the piece I listen to more than any other right now. Schumann strikes me as a brilliant but rather erratic composer, who excelled at short, thematically linked piano pieces but often struggled with longer forms. Yet there are occasions-the piano concerto, the opus 17 fantasy, and this quintet-where he created and sustained pure, uncontestable magic across the board. Unlike the Brahms, I'd never heard this quintet before, and when I did I couldn't believe how good it was. To me it seems one of the most perfect pieces ever written. The first movement has the most beautifully yearning, singing melody imaginable, while the eerie second movement shimmers with a kind of ghostly foreboding. Yet after these unforgettable moments, he somehow manages to augment and resolve everything in the scherzo and finale, without the diminution of drama that often plagues third and fourth movements. Since I've had this recording, my respect for Schumann has soared. This quintet is a composition you simply must have, and I can't think of any other way of adequately praising it. Together with the Brahms its an unbeatable listening experience. Ergo, you must buy this CD.

This is another of the many Naxos' disks that are cheap in price only. Here we have distinguished performances from all involved, especially Jeno Jando, who has completed traversals of the Haydn and Beethoven sonata cycles for Naxos, as well as recorded the lion's share of other projects (such as Liszt's complete piano music) for the label. His work at the keyboard is beyond reproach: assured, dynamic, emotive. The strings give a good account of themselves as well, and all are captured in a fine, slightly recessed but very truthful recording. Not a stellar performance, perhaps, but one that is highly competitive, especially at Naxos' price.