Schubert - Piano Quintet 'Trout' [Levine/Hetzel/Christ/ Faust/Posch]
This work gets played modestly in my player, i think i used to play it more, i guess it's somewhat slipped off the radar a bit, i still love this though, but there always seems more and more stuff to play these days, that's the downside of having a huge successful variety of music to play, something ends up getting played less, the main / favourite version is Schiff / Hagen on DG, but this is a nice little alternative version.
James Levine is an American Conductor, but also appears on a few recordings as a Pianist, this work was recorded in 1990, the front cover painting is by James Marsh, i don't usually like paintings / artwork as front covers, but this is a good one.
It was both the first and fourth movements that i really enjoyed, the fourth is an ingenious set of variations, and where the work gets its name, but i guess i'd like to talk about the first movement, here's my feelings on it, the whole thing is cast in the unusual form of five movements, the first is roughly twice as long as any of the others, it may start off slow and tentative in the introduction, but before the first minute's out, it comes to life, a lively skippy tune, the work is in the sunny key of A Major, the piano plays cascades of notes [3:17+], and the string players reply with more frantic playing, there are moments where the opening returns, and the whole thing unfolds again, it's certainly fun and enjoyable, and those frantic cascades of notes return [7:30+], after this there's some sort of reflective middle section, maybe in a minor key, but this fairly quickly livens up, and in volume too [9:30+], but of course the original flourishes aren't far away, it shows how much of an accomplished Pianist Levine is.
Here's the Trout Quintet being played on YouTube.
James Levine is an American Conductor, but also appears on a few recordings as a Pianist, this work was recorded in 1990, the front cover painting is by James Marsh, i don't usually like paintings / artwork as front covers, but this is a good one.
It was both the first and fourth movements that i really enjoyed, the fourth is an ingenious set of variations, and where the work gets its name, but i guess i'd like to talk about the first movement, here's my feelings on it, the whole thing is cast in the unusual form of five movements, the first is roughly twice as long as any of the others, it may start off slow and tentative in the introduction, but before the first minute's out, it comes to life, a lively skippy tune, the work is in the sunny key of A Major, the piano plays cascades of notes [3:17+], and the string players reply with more frantic playing, there are moments where the opening returns, and the whole thing unfolds again, it's certainly fun and enjoyable, and those frantic cascades of notes return [7:30+], after this there's some sort of reflective middle section, maybe in a minor key, but this fairly quickly livens up, and in volume too [9:30+], but of course the original flourishes aren't far away, it shows how much of an accomplished Pianist Levine is.
Here's the Trout Quintet being played on YouTube.
