Georges Onslow (1784-1853)
String Quintet No. 14 in F major, op. 37 (1828/1829)
String Quintet No. 24 in D major, op. 59 (c. 1837)
Ensemble Telos
rec. 2024, LaBar Recital Hall, O’Neill Hall of Music, University of Notre Dame, USA
First recordings
Reviewed as lossless download
Naxos 8.574709 [63]
String Quintet No. 28 in G minor, op. 72 (1848)
String Quintet No. 25 in F minor, op. 61 (1839)
Ensemble Tamuz
rec. 2023/2024, Andreas-Kirche, Berlin Wannsee, Germany
First recording (op. 61)
Reviewed as lossless download
Challenge Classics CC720026 [67]
Let’s get two cliches out of the road at the very start: “wait for ages and then two buses come along together” and “chalk and cheese”. The French-English George(s) Onslow wrote more than 30 string quintets, and recordings are fairly rare, yet within a month or so of each other, we have two new releases. The labels must be pleased there is no overlap, and indeed, only one of the four – op. 72 – has been recorded before (at least half of them remained unrecorded).
There is a chasm in the artistic choices between the two recordings. Ensemble Tamuz for Challenge comprises the more normal two violins, two cellos and viola, while Ensemble Telos swaps one of the cellos for a double bass in a version arranged by Matthew Baker. Even more significantly, in terms of the soundworlds, Ensemble Tamuz uses authentic instruments, unlike Ensemble Telos. There is also the major/minor key difference in the offerings, though I think that is less significant.
This is the fifth volume in the Naxos series, but it has been four years since Volume 4, and there has been a change of personnel. The previous four were performed by the Elan Quintet, who impressed me greatly in the first two volumes (review ~ review).
Onslow was dubbed the “French Beethoven” during his life, but his music is not of that quality, nor does it have the emotional power. What it does have, though not necessarily best expressed in the four works presented here, is drama, humour and interesting rhythmic contrasts. The quintets are more Romantic in feel than those of Boccherini, who was the “father” of this genre, less refined than Mozart’s, perhaps closest in spirit to Mendelssohn’s, though lacking his inherent genius.
I went through an interesting journey with the two recordings. At first, I felt that Ensemble Telos lacked some of the vivacity and lightness of touch of their Naxos predecessors. My initial impression of the Ensemble Tamuz was much more positive, the gut strings and vibrato-less playing gave the music a raw zestiness which was appealing. However, as I listened further, my feelings began to change. I came to the conclusion that Ensemble Telos were somewhat handicapped by works that were less inspired than those on the first two volumes. This was particularly so for op. 37; the later op. 59, very much in the mould of middle Beethoven, was better but still not outstanding. While their playing could still have had a little more life, I began to appreciate it more. On the other hand, that raw zestiness of Ensemble Tamuz began to be a little too relentless, and became quite tiring by the end of a thirty-plus minute work. Mercifully, their two choices were certainly more musically interesting. In one of previous reviews, I said that the half an hour rushed by: that did not hold true with either.
In producing a very immediate and clean sound to accentuate that rawness, the Challenge recording has caught a significant amount of extraneous sounds (by which I mean sniffing). I won’t say it is off-putting, but you definitely can’t help noticing it. The Naxos sound is smoother and less upfront, appropriate for the style of playing. The Naxos booklet notes are more informative.
Because of my reservations, I wouldn’t recommend listening to either recording straight through. Nor would I recommend you make either of these your starting point for Onslow’s quintets – try one of the first volumes from the Naxos series.
David Barker
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