Johann Hummel (1778-1837)
Septet No. 2 in C Major, Op. 114 (Version for Piano Quintet)*
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
Piano Quintet in A major, D667 ‘The Trout’
Peter Donohoe (piano)
I Musicanti/Leon Bosch (double bass & director)
rec. 2024, St George’s Headstone, Pinner View, Harrow, London
*First recording
Somm SOMMCD0712 [72]
These two works are linked, and I quote with acknowledgements the note on Presto’s website explaining how:
“Franz Schubert’s Trout Quintet came about during a walking holiday in the Alps in 1819, when he made the acquaintance of Sylvester Paumgartner, an amateur cellist who promoted chamber concerts in his home. He greatly admired Schubert’s lied, Die Forelle (“The Trout”), and he commissioned a set of variations based on the song’s melody. At the time, Paumgartner had brought together a group of musicians to perform Hummel’s Piano Quintet in E flat minor—the arrangement Hummel made of his first piano septet—and suggested that Schubert write his new variations for that same quintet ensemble of pianist, violinist, violist, cellist, and double bass player. Schubert being Schubert, he not only composed a set of five variations on Die Forelle, but he created a five-movement quintet that featured the variations as the fourth movement of a work that has become one of the most renowned and beloved in the chamber repertoire.“
The Hummel premiere recording on this new release is not that Piano Quintet but his ‘Military’ Piano Septet No. 2 re-arranged by the composer for publication in Vienna in 1830, a year after Schubert’s death, as an alternate quintet version with the original flute and clarinet parts redistributed among a string quartet and an added viola. This ‘Military Quintet’ was discovered by the director and double-bassist here, Leon Bosch, and is performed here by the ensemble I Musicanti along with distinguished pianist Peter Donohoe, joint silver medal winner at the International Tchaikovsky Competition in 1982.
It is a bold, melodic work, clearly skilfully crafted and to my ear something of an amalgam of characteristics common to both Beethoven and Schubert – especially the latter, with regard to the military flourishes and the cascading piano leads, but the emphatic, re-iterated main thematic statement is decidedly Beethovenian. The Scherzo is a jolly, romping, stomping waltz; the finale a whirling prestissimo and the most engaging movement. Nonetheless, I cannot say that any of the music is particularly striking, memorable or original; it is merely pleasant and the contrast between it and the subsequent masterpiece just confirms the difference between competence and genius.
I embarked on this review assuming that there must be no shortage of highly recommendable digital recordings of Schubert’s “Trout” quintet but a little digging revealed that there are fewer than I would have thought; I have always been happy with some fairly venerable accounts such as that by the Budapest String Quartet with Mieczyslaw Horszowski as long ago as 1961 and the Borodin Quartet with Richter in 1980, which I admiringly reviewed back in 2010, but there is surely room for another, modern version – and perhaps this is it.
First, the sonics are perfect: lovely balances and sense of intimacy without it being too closely recorded. Second, the playing is tonally warm without indulgence; Donohoe’s touch is deft and bell-like and I particularly commend the intonation and security of Richard Harwood’s cello. Ensemble is tight and no player is grandstanding. The Richter/Borodin Quartet performance on EMI employs quite leisurely tempi, especially in the Andante; the timing of that second movement here is more than a minute swifter and thus more truly Andante than the near Adagio of the older recording; there is more of a sense of forward motion throughout without sacrificing a sense of repose. Donohoe is lighter and more graceful of manner than Richter in the Scherzo and I welcome that. The fourth variation movement is delightful: the viola arpeggios and cascades in Variation II are especially charming, then Donohoe’s flashy prestidigitation in the ensuing variation is impressive. The sombre D minor Variation IV is soulfully lyrical, the final cello-led variation and the coda wholly satisfying. The finale is jaunty, joyful and spirited, building to a rousing conclusion; everything is done right here.
This does not necessarily displace my favourites but is a worthy alternative, especially if the Hummel coupling appeals.
Ralph Moore
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