Schubert: Trout Quintet; Arpeggione & Notturno

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Schubert's quintet (which gets its name from his song "The Trout," used for a set of variations at its apex) is as lighthearted as it is melodious, qualities reflected in this excellent performance. The period-instrument balances are ideal; the fortepiano, less resonant than a modern piano, does not overpower the strings. The arpeggione was an odd, newly invented six-stringed instrument when Schubert wrote for it. The lovely sonata is here played on an obsolete five-stringed instrument, the violoncello piccolo--closer to the original than the modern cello or viola usually heard on recordings. The "Notturno" is a haunting movement, probably intended for a larger work. --Paul Turok

Customer Reviews:

Superb Performance, Weak reissue.......2007-06-04

Unfortunately, I am fortunate enough to have the original issue of this CD, without the notes removed so I don't miss what the previous reviewer finds lacking. I will follow his lead by noting that especially for musical innocents like myself, every piece of help the CD and give me is valueable, so I would miss it. If you are lucky enough to get a copy of the 1996 issue with the principal performers hard at work on their instruments under a majestic oak(?) tree in the summer sun, you will be much happier with your Schubert trout experience. But then again, the music is all the same, and I find it glorious, a veritable classical 'Super Session'.

cheaper reissue of a fine recording from 1995, with the loss of booklet notes.......2006-09-22

Sony has of course in its catalog one recording of the "Trout" quintet which has universally been recognized as a truly "great performance" since its first publication in 1967: the one by Rudolf Serkin and his partners from the Marlboro festival, now available with Mozart's clarinet quintet performed by Harold Wright (Schubert: Piano Quintet "Trout"; Mozart: Clarinet Quintet). Still, the present recording from 1995 around stars Emmanuel Ax and Yo-Yo Ma is also a fine, albeit interpretively slanted performance. Its values are brisk and almost hard-driven tempos throughout, muscular phrasings, crisp piano playing and ample lyricism from the strings. For more developed comments, see my review under the original issue: Schubert: Quintet, Op. 114 "The Trout" / Sonata, D. 821 "Arpeggione". Not a "Trout" for all tastes then and especially not for those who prefer a more easy-going, genial Schubert, but one that is treasurable precisely for its radicalism of approach. With the welcome addition of the Lied on which Schubert based his "Trout" variations, here nicely if lightly sung by Barbara Bonney, the Arpeggione sonata, played by the Ma-Ax duet, is a significant filler and a welcome complement to the weightier, more brooding and wistful approach of Rostropovich and Britten in 1968 (Decca Schubert, Debussy / Rostropovich, Britten). Ma emits unfailingly rich and creamy sonorities, with a wealth of vocal inflexions, and in the Finale displays awesome virtuosity. Thanks to this reissue, some 10 years after its original publication, you can now get it for cheaper, but at the cost of the original booklet's program notes, which are now reduced to an insignificant blurb. Well, it is for you to decide if a more developed pabulum is worth the extra bucks. I didn't think so.

Schubert: Trout Quintet; Arpeggione & Notturno

Average customer rating:

A hasty outskirt at the trout's brook
Lonely, but Noble Arpeggione Sonata
Otra obra maestra de L'Archibudelli
The sonorities of the FortePiano are a perfect match!

Schubert: Trout Quintet; Arpeggione & Notturno
Anner Bylsma , Marji Danilow , Jos Van Immerseel , Jurgen Kussmaul , Bera Beths , Archibudelli , and Franz Schubert
Manufacturer: Sony
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B00000C3SB
Release Date: 1998-11-10

Tracks:

I. Allegro Vivace - Jurgen Kussmaul
II. Andante - Jurgen Kussmaul
III. Scherzo. Presto - Jurgen Kussmaul
IV. Tema. Andantino-Variations I-V-Allegretto - Jurgen Kussmaul
V. Finale. Allegro Giusto - Jurgen Kussmaul
I. Allegro Moderato - Anner Bylsma
II. Adagio - Anner Bylsma
III. Allegretto - Anner Bylsma
Adagio For Piano Trio In E-Flat Major, D. 897 (Op. Posth. 148) 'Notturno'/Adagio Fur Klaviertrio Es-Dur/Adagio Pour Trio Avec Piano En Mi Bemol Majeur - Anner Bylsma

Amazon.com

Schubert's quintet (which gets its name from his song "The Trout," used for a set of variations at its apex) is as lighthearted as it is melodious, qualities reflected in this excellent performance. The period-instrument balances are ideal; the fortepiano, less resonant than a modern piano, does not overpower the strings. The arpeggione was an odd, newly invented six-stringed instrument when Schubert wrote for it. The lovely sonata is here played on an obsolete five-stringed instrument, the violoncello piccolo--closer to the original than the modern cello or viola usually heard on recordings. The "Notturno" is a haunting movement, probably intended for a larger work. --Paul Turok

Customer Reviews:

A hasty outskirt at the trout's brook.......2006-09-25

Someone at Sony must like the idea of pairing Schubert's "Trout" quintet with his Arpeggione sonata, as two years before this recording the label had already published the same coupling played by Emmanuel Ax, Yo-Yo Ma and friends (see my comments). But in this newer one by L'Archibudelli (with mainstays fortepianist Jos Van Immerseel, violinist Vera Beths and cellist Anner Bylsma), besides the inclusion of the beautiful "Notturno" in place of the Lied on which Schubert had based his variation movement, the major difference lies of course in the use of period instruments. Well, "period" in a broad sense, not so much because some of the instruments used date from the early 18th century (after all, string players in the time of Schubert might indeed have been playing on instruments a century-old), as because Bylsma uses in the quintet a cello built some 15 years after the composition of the piece; more questionable still is the fact that he does NOT use an actual Arpeggione in the eponymous sonata, but a 5 stringed piccolo cello from 1700 - the same one that is more appositely featured in his 1990 Bach Viola da Gamba recording on Sony. The Arpeggione, also called by its inventor, the Viennese guitar-maker J.G. Staufer, a "guitare d'amour" and also known as the "guitarre-Violoncell", is actually a cello-sized, guitar-shaped instrument with 6 strings tuned like a guitar and sharing with that instrument a few more technical characteristics but actually bowed like a cello rather than strummed. Now the whole point of period instruments seems to me to lie in the search for an "authentic" sound, e.g. a sound as close as possible to what it might have been in the time of composition and in the mind of the composer, and as it is, Bylsma's 5-stringed 1700 instrument is no more authentic than a modern cello. The LP recording of Schubert's sonata made in 1974 on an actual Arpeggione (kept in the Berlin Museum of Music Instruments) by Klaus Storck, for Archiv, has unfortunately not been reissued, and the recent CD recording made on the same instrument by Gerhardt Darmstadt for Cavalli isn't so good (see my review), so Bylsma's choice is an opportunity missed.

But let us not fuss over these petty details, and welcome what we get, all considerations of "authenticity" aside. In terms of sound color, all those exposed to period instruments will know what to expect here: soft-grained string tone but also somehow less focused and more rough-hewn than modern instruments, which I find quite easy to adjust to; more dramatic differences are with the fortepiano, again soft-grained, with a general lack of resonance and short decay time as well as brittle top, making it sound somewhat like a toy-piano or the old out-of-tune salon piano you might still find in your grandmother's attic. It certainly does not elicit much sense of power and drama. Now how one reacts to that is a matter of personal taste, but I certainly do not think that it invalidates the use of modern instruments.

Besides playing on period instruments, Archibudelli's main interpretive slant in the "Trout" seems to be to zip through as fast as possible. Indeed, timings in each movement are the fastest or near-fastest I have met on the 20 or so versions I have heard on CD, including the swift-moving Ax-Ma & friends (Sony) or Adès-Belcea (EMI). Their first movement is brisk, even hurried, rather short on charm, tenderness and the long, lyrical respiration (although the violin and cello interplay has plenty of feeling) but very dynamic, with nervous accents. These 5 pals obviously have an evening appointment back in Vienna and can't afford to idle their time away on their countryside fishing outskirt! In defense of such an approach one may point that the opening movement is written "Allegro vivace" - but it is also in 4/4 time signature and not 2/2. Likewise Archibudelli's "Andante" is forward-moving, urgent, with dynamically dry and pointed fp phrasings at 0:59, but also with not much repose and respiration, and instrumental colors that lack a touch of fullness, resulting in a not so lyrical viola and cello cantilena at 1:19. For the scherzo they take Schubert's "presto" at face value (perhaps forgetting along the way that it is a 3/4 time signature and not a 3/8) and chose a tempo similar by a couple of seconds to the one adopted by Ax-Ma and friends, but unlike them (and commendably in my opinion) do not relax the tempo in the middle trio. I find that it is in the variation movement that their dynamic approach works best, as it fills the music with zest and carefree humor, while avoiding any mawkish fussing over theme and variations. The finale moves forward with decision - our pals seem happy and proud to have their "Trout" and in a hurry to go home and eat it. Still, another version on period instruments, by Hausmusik, originally on EMI Reflexe (paired with Hummels quintet for the same instrumental combination) and now in a cheap, 5-CD box on Virgin, seems to me preferable because less radical in its interpretive approach (to see my review, search Schubert Hummel Hausmusik).

As a weighty filler, all considerations of instrument put aside, Byslma and Van Immerseel contribute a fine, lyrical and light-footed reading of the Arpeggione sonata, if neither as dynamic and virtuosic as Ma and Ax's nor as profound in tone color and mood as in the classic 1968 recording of Rostropovich and Britten.

Lonely, but Noble Arpeggione Sonata.......2001-01-14

Among three works in this CD, the most characteristic is the performance of the arpeggione sonata D821 by Bylsma and Immerseel. This sonata has long been treated as a bravura showpiece by virtuoso cellists. Bylsma's approach is fundamentary different: He treats the sonata as a serious work, consistent with the period of composition (two String Quartets D804 and D811-The Death and Maiden). Using five-stringed small cello, he plays with highest sense of delicacy. As a result, the music is no more a merry bravura, but somewhat lonely and at the same time quite noble one. I like this approach. Others, the most popular 'Trout' Quintet and the least known Piano Trio fragment ('Notturno'), also share the high musical standard, too.

Otra obra maestra de L'Archibudelli.......2000-09-07

Poco se puede decir del quinteto "la trucha" de Schubert; no por nada es una de las obras más populares para cuarteto de cuerdas y piano; sin embargo, en este disco encontramos un par de obras adicionales que bien valdrían por sí mismas el precio de este CD: el "Arpeggione" y el "Notturno" (este último popularizado por Nana Mouskoury en forma de una canción). La ejecución de L'Archibudelli resulta excepcional (baste con saber quienes forman este cuarteto de cuerdas: Vera Beths al violín, Jürgen Kussmaul en la viola, Anner Bylsma en el cello y Marji Danilow en el bajo, todos ellos reputados solistas); y como complemento sensacional, la participación de Jos van Immerseel tocando un piano construido a principios del siglo XIX, y cuidadosamente restaurado, que nos demuestra que estos instrumentos no eran tan inferiores como nos habían hecho creer. Por todo esto, seguramente no se arrepentirá de adquirir este disco, y muy probablemente se convierta en uno de sus favoritos (en lo personal, el "notturno" me conquistó por completo).

The sonorities of the FortePiano are a perfect match!.......2000-07-18

I agree with the Amazon editor above that the resonances of the modern piano do not do the 'Trout' justice. I cannot imagine that Schubert penned this work thinking of any instrument OTHER than the FortePiano, so ideal is the lightness of it's textures. I find myself swept away by the exuberance of Immerseel's playing. Matching that alone against all other versions of the 'Trout', modern piano or not, this one is the version to have. The brisk tempi are a treat! I hope you find this as rewarding a listening experience as I.

Entertaining Made Simple: Chardonnay Shellfish & Schubert

Average customer rating:

Is this for real?

Entertaining Made Simple: Chardonnay Shellfish & Schubert
Andrea Immer , Richard Goode , Richard Stoltzman , Emanuel Ax , Julius Levine , Julian Bream , Artur Rubinstein , Pierre Fournier , Henryk Szeryng , James Galway , and Phillip Moll
Manufacturer: RCA
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B0000A4FTR
Release Date: 2003-07-22

Tracks:

Impromptu In G Flat, D. 899 No. 3 - Arthur Rubinstein
I: Allegro Molto - Richard Stoltzman
IV: Theme: Andantino; Variations 1-5: Allegretto - Emanuel Ax
V: Menuetto & Trio - Mithras Octet
II: Andantino - Richard Stoltzman
Menuetto - Julian Bream
II: Andante Un Poco Mosso - Henryk Szeryng
Serenade, D. 957 - Phillip Moll
III: Allegretto - Richard Stoltzman
Impromptu In A-Flat, D. 899 No. 4 - Arthur Rubenstein

Customer Reviews:

Is this for real?.......2004-02-07

I mean, c'mon - SHELLFISH AND SHUBERT?!?!?!? I can't even believe this was released. If this isn't the last nail in the American cultural coffin, I can't imagine what is.

Oy vey.

Schubert: Piano Quintet 'trout', Octet, Arpeggione Sonata, Fantasia D. 935
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Schubert: Piano Quintet 'trout', Octet, Arpeggione Sonata, Fantasia D. 935
Clifford Curzon , Mstislav Rostropovich , Benjamin Britten , Szymon Goldberg , Radu Lupu , Wiener Oktett , Vienna Octet , and Franz Schubert
Manufacturer: Decca
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music
The Decca Records Store | Specialty Stores | Music
ASIN: B000024230
Release Date: 1996-12-09

Tracks:

(1-5) Piano Quintet In A Major 'The Trout', D667
(6-8) Arpeggione Sonata In A Minor, D821
(1-4) Fantasy In C Major, D934
(5-10) Octet In F Major, D803

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Franz Schubert in Performance from NPR

Manufacturer: Npr National Public
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Quartets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

Quintets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

Fantasies | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

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ASIN: B00000IXD3
Release Date: 1997-01-01

Tracks:

-3 Sonatina No. 1 in D Major for Violin and Piano D 384
Wanderer Fantasy in C Major D 760
Death and the Maiden D 531
-9 String Quartet No 14 in D Minor D 810 Death and the Maiden

Tracks:

-3 Sonata for Arpeggione and Piano D 821
-5 Three Piano Pieces D 946
The Trout D 550
-12 Piano Quintet in A Major D 667 Trout

Album Description

This two CD set was originally released in 1997 to coincide with Schubert's 200th Birthday. The set contains music recorded at various venues across the country for NPR(r)'s Performance Today (r), and contains an all-star line-up of Schubert's greatest music, played in concert by some of today's greatest artists.

Schubert: "Trout" Quintet; "Arpeggione" Sonata

Average customer rating:

Stellar players, but this 'Trout' doesn't smile

Schubert: "Trout" Quintet; "Arpeggione" Sonata

Manufacturer: RCA
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Quintets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

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ASIN: B0000DGDO9
Release Date: 2004-01-13

Customer Reviews:

Stellar players, but this 'Trout' doesn't smile.......2006-06-14

Despite the presence of three members from the Guarneri Quartet and Emmanuel Ax as pianist, I can see why RCA relegated this reading of the Trout Quintet to a super-budget line. The playing is note-perfect but without charm--where is the smile Schubert clearly wanted us to have as we listened? I don't know why the chemisty isn't there. Ax went on to participate in probably the best modern 'Trout' with Yo-Yo Ma on Sony, and bass player Julius Levine had already appeared on a famous version from Marlboro with Rudolf Serkin on Sony. Either one is preferable to this dry, foursquare effort.

Better is the Arpeggione Sonata, warmly played by James Levine and Lynn Harrell. They sound much happier than the earlier group, but again, there are finer readings on CD that display more intensity and commitment--Yo-Yo Ma has one on the same CD as his 'Trout.' In the end, even though the cover promises much, what's delivered is fairly disappoointing.

Average customer rating:

Classical Highlights: Schubert

Manufacturer: St. Clair Entertainment
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Quartets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

Quintets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

Scherzo | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music
ASIN: B0000CDLBN
Release Date: 2003-09-16

Tracks:

Quintet for Piano in a Major "Trout"/Allegro Vivace
Quintet for Piano in a Major "Trout"/Andante
Quintet for Piano in a Major "Trout"/Scherzo: Presto
Quintet for Piano in a Major "Trout"/Tema Con Variazioni: ...
Quintet for Piano in a Major "Trout"/Finale; Allegro Giusto
Symphony No. 8 in B Minor "Unfinished"/Allegro Moderato
Symphony No. 8 in B Minor "Unfinished"/Andante Con Moto
Impromptus, Op. 90/Impromptu in C Minor. Allegro Molto Moderato
Impromptus, Op. 90/Impromptu in E Flat Major. Allegro
Impromptus, Op. 90/Impromptu in G Flat Major. Andante
Impromptus, Op. 90/Impromptu in a Flat Major. Allegretto
String Quartet No. 14 in D Minor "Death and the Maiden"/Allegro
String Quartet No. 14 in D Minor "Death and the Maiden" Andante ...
String Quartet No. 14 in D Minor "Death and the Maiden" Scherzo: ...
String Quartet No. 14 in D Minor "Death and the Maiden"/Presto
String Quartet No. 12 in C Minor "Quartettsatz" Allegro Assai ...
Rosamunde/Ballet Music
Symphony No. 9 in C Major "Great" Introduction: Andante-Allegro Ma Non
Symphony No. 9 in C Major "Great"/Andante Con Moto
Symphony No. 9 in C Major "Great"/Scherzo + Trio: Allegro Vivace
Symphony No. 9 in C Major "Great"/Allegro Vivace
Symphony No. 3 in D Major/Adagio Maestoso-Allegro Con Brio
Symphony No. 3 in D Major/Allegretto
Symphony No. 3 in D Major/Minuetto (Vivace)-Trio
Symphony No. 3 in D Major/Presto-Vivace

Tracks:

Symphony No. 5 in B Flat Major/Allegro
Symphony No. 5 in B Flat Major/Andante Con Moto
Symphony No. 5 in B Flat Major/Minuetto: Allegro Molto
Symphony No. 5 in B Flat Major/Allegro Vivace
Impromptus, Op. 142/Impromptu in F Minor. Allegro Moderato
Impromptus, Op. 142/Impromptu in a Flat Major. Allegretto
Impromptus, Op. 142/Impromptu in B Flat Major. Andante
Impromptus, Op. 142/Impromptu in F Major. Allegro Scherzo
String Quartet No. 13 in a Minor "Rosamunde"/Allegro Ma Non Troppo
String Quartet No. 13 in a Minor "Rosamunde"/Andante
String Quartet No. 13 in a Minor "Rosamunde"/Minuetto: Allegretto
String Quartet No. 13 in a Minor "Rosamunde"/Allegro Moderato
Moment Musical in a Flat Major
Symphony No. 1 in D Major/Excerpt
Symphony No. 4 in C Minor "Tragic"/Adagio Molto-Allegro Vivace
Symphony No. 4 in C Minor "Tragic"/Andante
Symphony No. 4 in C Minor "Tragic"/Minuetto E Trio (Allegro Vivace)
Symphony No. 4 in C Minor "Tragic"/Allegro
Scherzo No. 1 in B Flat Major
Sonatine for Violin and Piano No. 2 in a Minor/Excerpt
Sonatine for Violin and Piano No. 2 in a Minor/Andante
Sonatine for Violin and Piano No. 1 in D Major/Allegro Vivace
Sonata for Arpeggione and Piano in a Minor/Allegro Moderato
Sonata for Arpeggione and Piano in a Minor/Adagio
Sonata for Arpeggione and Piano in a Minor/Allegretto

Schubert: Trout Quintet; String Quartet "Der Tod und das Mädchen"; Schumann: Fantasiestücke

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Schubert: Trout Quintet; String Quartet "Der Tod und das Mädchen"; Schumann: Fantasiestücke
Julius Levine , Joseph Roisman , Mischa Schneider , Robert Mann , Earl Carlyss , Joel Krosnick , Samuel Rhodes , Robert Casadesus , Zino Francescatti , and Budapest String Quartet
Manufacturer: Sony
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Quartets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

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ASIN: B00000DSHA
Release Date: 1992-12-08

Schubert: Complete Chamber Music for Piano and Strings

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Schubert: Complete Chamber Music for Piano and Strings

Manufacturer: Bis
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Quartets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

Quintets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

Trios | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

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ASIN: B0000016HF
Release Date: 1992-11-23

Tracks:

I. Allegro Vivace
II. Andante
III. Scherzo. Presto
IV. Tema Con Variazioni
V. Allegro Giusto
I. Allegro Moderato
II. Scherzo. Presto
III. Andantino
IV. Allegro Vivace
Allegro

Tracks:

I. Allegro Moderato
II. Andante Un Poco Mosso
III. Scherzo. Allegro
IV. Rondo. Allegro Vivace
Adagio
6/1. Andante Molto - 6/2. Allegretto - 6/3. Andantino...

Tracks:

I. Allegro Molto
II. Andante
III. Allegro Vivace
I. Allegro Moderato
II. Andante
III. Menuetto & Trio. Allegro
IV. Allegro
I. Allegro Giusto
II. Andante
III. Menuetto & Trio
IV. Allegro Moderato
I. Allegro Moderato
II. Adagio
III. Allegretto

Tracks:

I. Allegro
II. Andante Con Moto
III. Scherzo. Allegro Moderato
IV. Allegro Moderato
5/1. Andante - 5/2. Allegro
6/1. Adagio - 6/2. Rondo Concertante

Schubert: Quintet, Op. 114 "The Trout" / Sonata, D. 821 "Arpeggione"

Average customer rating:

A good "Trout", dynamic and muscular, at times even a bit hard-driven, and a dance-like "Arpeggione"
THIS trout tastes GREAT!
Summer music at its most effervescent
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Adequate trout, inspiring Arpeggione

Schubert: Quintet, Op. 114 "The Trout" / Sonata, D. 821 "Arpeggione"
Franz Schubert , Yo-Yo Ma , Barbara Bonney , Emanuel Ax , Pamela Frank , Rebecca Young , and Edgar Meyer
Manufacturer: Sony
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Quintets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

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ASIN: B0000029N0
Release Date: 1996-01-23

Tracks:

Quintet for Piano, Violin, Violoncello and Double Bass in A Major, Op. posth. 114, D. 667 (The Trout): Allegro vivace
Quintet for Piano, Violin, Violoncello and Double Bass in A Major, Op. posth. 114, D. 667 (The Trout): Andante
Quintet for Piano, Violin, Violoncello and Double Bass in A Major, Op. posth. 114, D. 667 (The Trout): Scherzo. Presto - Trio
Quintet for Piano, Violin, Violoncello and Double Bass in A Major, Op. posth. 114, D. 667 (The Trout): Thema. Andantino mit Variationen
Quintet for Piano, Violin, Violoncello and Double Bass in A Major, Op. posth. 114, D. 667 (The Trout): Finale. Allegro guisto
Sonata for Piano and Arpeggione in A Minor, D. 821: Allegro moderato
Sonata for Piano and Arpeggione in A Minor, D. 821: Adagio
Sonata for Piano and Arpeggione in A Minor, D. 821: Allegretto
Die Forelle D.550: Die Forelle D.550 (The Trout)

Amazon.com essential recording

Schubert wrote the Trout Quintet as a carefree young man still untouched by ill health and poverty; it radiates golden sunshine, confident hope, and high spirits. His earliest large-scale composition, it is among his most popular works. Its variation movement is the first of several in which he used one of his own songs as the theme, and this record includes the song itself--an inspired idea. It also includes the Arpeggione Sonata, the only surviving piece written for that now extinct six-stringed instrument, whose range most closely resembles that of the cello. The performances are all superb, lovely in tone, unanimous in phrasing, articulation, feeling, and spirit. The quintet is lively, simple, exuberant, and expressive; Ax plays his brilliant part with lightness, grace, and virtuosity, but never dominates the ensemble. In the sonata, Ma and Ax capture the dreamy poetry, wistful inwardness, and romantic ardor of this deeply affecting music beautifully. --Edith Eisler

Customer Reviews:

A good "Trout", dynamic and muscular, at times even a bit hard-driven, and a dance-like "Arpeggione".......2006-09-21

There have been many good recordings of the "Trout" since the advent of sound reproduction and this is a welcome if interpretively slanted addition to the lot. Its characteristics are brisk tempos, muscular phrasings, crisp piano playing and heartfelt lyricism from the strings. The introductory "Allegro Vivace" may be not quite as taut and tight as Schnabel's (1935) or Adès' (2005), but it is dynamic and muscular nonetheless. The strings evince ample lyricism, with an especially felicitous violin and cello interplay at 1:47, and pianist Emmanuel Ax plays with a fine crispness, never overpedalling or covering his partners. In the second movement the tempo is swift, almost urgent: it is one of the fastest I have heard on disc - Paul Badura-Skoda's and the Wiener Konzerthaus Quartet's recording from 1950, one of the earliest mono LP recordings, now on Amiata Records, beats it by a few seconds - really an "Andante" (literally : going, forward-moving) as written by Schubert, rather than an adagio in disguise. At that tempo, and even though the fp marks at 1:00 are soft-grained rather than explosive, it sounds almost jaunty and merry - and perhaps somewhat unyielding - rather than heartfelt and affecting: an option that is certainly neither the last nor the only possible word on the music, but one that is nonetheless not stylistically out of place in this work. Yet, make no mistake: the viola-cello cantilena starting at 1:16 has all the heart-wrenching lyricism you might expect. Again in the Scherzo Ax and friends really take Schubert's "Presto" indication at face value, zip through and again beat records of sorts: it is urgent, almost hurried, with none of the good-natured geniality associated with Schubert; but the players do apply some relaxation of tempo in the middle Trio. There is no lingering either in their utterance of the 4th movement's "Trout" theme (though others, like Curzon and the Vienna Octet members, or Thomas Adès and members of the Belcea Quartet, have been even more forward-moving), and the ensuing variations develop with the same kind of dynamism, leading to a spirited coda. And what a good idea to have added at the end of the disc the little Lied on which Schubert based his theme and variations! Throughout Ax plays with his usual crispness and sparse pedalling, never overpowering his partners, while violinist Pamela Frank emits perky, chirrupy trills in the first variation. The partners top it off with again a muscular and dynamic Finale, reminiscent of Rudolf Serkin and partners at Marlboro in 1967. In sum, this is a muscular and dynamic "Trout", not one for all tastes - and certainly not for those wanting a more "gemütlich" and easy-going Schubert.

The Arpeggione sonata, by Ma-Ax duet, is a significant filler and a welcome complement to the weightier, more brooding and wistful approach of Rostropovich and Britten in 1968 (Decca). Ma emits unfailingly rich and creamy sonorities, with a wealth of vocal inflexions (when performed on cello, the sonata plays a lot in the instrument's upper registers, emulating a high baryton voice), and in the Finale displays awesome virtuosity, evocative of the flight of a bumblebee (1:32).

THIS trout tastes GREAT!.......2006-08-12

I don't agree AT ALL with the two reviewers who gave this three stars; there is nothing "plodding" or uninteresting about this version that I can hear. The Trout Quintet is one of those pieces of classical music that one can posit as a very good argument why classical music is the best; it has withstood the test of time better than anything else, and never gets stale. This recording is very much like the All-Star Game in baseball; a collection of superstars, each a premier performer on his or her instrument (in the case of Yo-Yo Ma, Emmanuel Ax, Edgar Meyer, and Rebecca Young - I don't really know very much about Ms. Frank, but it's hard to find any fault with her performance here).

Their performance of the Trout is playful and joyous, and these five artists make this the best performance I have ever heard - even MUCH better than when I played the viola and cello parts! :)

I enthusiastically recommend this recording!

Summer music at its most effervescent.......2005-12-31

I think the Amazon reviewer has described this CD with complete accuracy. Until this performance of the "Trout" Quintet appeared I had lived enjoyably for decades with a Marlboro Festival reading with Rudolf Serkin (aided by a cricket singing in the background) that exuded the spirit of summer. This new performance is also a product of summer--it was recorded in August, 1995, in Princeton--but evertyhing is taken a bit faster, by almost a minute in each movement except the first, and the added speed helps refresh the listener. That's important because the famous variaitons on Schubert's lied, "Die Forelle," can seem like too much of a good thing. Here, after a bracing (perhaps too bracing) romp through the Scherzo, the variations are still welcome, and the group makes sure to attack them vigorously, not with the usual lazy cheeriness.

It's also no small achievement for this ensemble of virtuosos to play with uncanny single-mindedness. There is not a routine bar of music from first to last. Now I can wait another four decades to buy a new "Trout."

As other reviewers have noted, the duo of Ax and Ma in the Arpeggione Sonata are brilliant, and Barbara Bonney, singing "Die Forelle" as a pendant to the album, keeps up the amazingly high standards of a release that became an instant classic the moment it appeared.

The Sunny Side of Schubert: A Beautiful "Trout" Rendition.......2005-07-31

While I don't profess to be a major music expert, I think this is a fine rendition, and a modern one at that, of Schubert's spirited and cheerful famous "Trout" Quintet. However, it's probably not the best or the one that is most accurate to Schubert's original score. I'm sure there are other recordings out there that perform this piece with period instruments and with more dead-on faithfulness to Schubert's original style. But this is a real treat because it's fresh and crisp, as if it was just composed yesterday and boasts a fine ensemble of musicians, top folk at their craft - Yo-Yo Ma needs no introduction, Pamela Frank on the violin and Emmanuel Ax on the piano.

The chemistry between these artists, including the viola player who is lesser known, is exceptional. They play with miraculous exactitude and technical brilliance. The work is suddenly more alive and bubbly, though in some portions, for contrast, the ensemble plays with a kind of classical seriousnessfound in Haydn or Mozart's chamber works. Schubert, who composed at the time of Beethoven, composed this piece when he was still very young (his early 20's) and when he had not yet fallen ill to the syphillis that killed him. He was not a pretentious man nor did he associate himself with the aristocracy or upper strata of German or Austrian society- as did Beethoven. Instead, he performed in intimate gatherings for friends in their homes, may have just been "jamming" sort to speak when he composed this piece in the beauty of the natural surroundings. It's based on a song he composed about a trout and a fisherman. The work is part of his collection of Lieder, which is numerous. Baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau to my knowledge, has been the best interpreter of this song. In this album, the soprano Barbara Bonney sings the song, though I don't much care for her rendition. This album also features the chamber piece "Arpeggione" sonata, and is played with expert artistry. This is a fine album and one you should own if only to hear the fine work by Yo-Yo Ma, Pamela Frank and Emmanuel Ax, who contribute so much to the Classical and early Romantic Era. They were featured in the soundtrack to the film Immortal Beloved. They specialize in this type of music and are therefore a fine choice.

Adequate trout, inspiring Arpeggione.......2002-08-18

This is an adequate rendition of the Trout; it definitely has its moments of inspiration, especially in the Scherzo. However, the Thema lacks the refinement and dramatism of a truly spectacular performance...although the musical intentions of the performers are evident.

The real gem of this CD is the first movement of the Arpeggione. The chemistry between Yo-Yo Ma and Emanuel Ax is superb, and Ma plays the cello with the agility of a violin.

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