I first encountered what I now know to be the Taneyev Piano Quintet a few
weeks ago when Dr. Len Mullenger asked me to listen ‘blind’ to a disc.
Beyond thinking that I was listening to music composed between about 1880
and 1915 and having a suspicion that the music was Russian I hadn’t any idea
what work I was hearing. However, despite my abject failure to identify the
composer I was sure that I was listening to an impressive piece. That belief
has been reinforced once Len put me out of my misery, identified the music
and invited me to review these discs.
All three of the pieces here recorded are substantial but the biggest and
most ambitious is the
Piano Quintet. It’s cast in four
movements, the first of which is by some distance the largest in scale; it
plays for 17:37 here. After a substantial slow introduction, which is tense
and expectant, the main body of the movement, marked
Allegro
patetico, bursts forth (3:29). This is surging and passionate, though
at 4:43 the piano gently introduces a much more lyrical second subject. The
treatment of the faster material is consistently ardent and impulsive in
this performance though the lyrical opportunities are relished too. It’s a
terrific movement and it receives a tremendous performance. I’ve had the
chance to listen to another version by the Taneyev Quartet with pianist
Tamara Fidler. This was recorded as long ago as 1968 and it was the subject
of a
review by William Kreindler in 2010. The
Taneyev Quartet are more expansive in their treatment of this music than
their CPO rivals: the introduction alone plays for 4:00. Their fine reading
of the main body of the movement is lively but though it’s passionate and
strong it doesn't quite have the urgency that Anna Zassimova and her
colleagues provide.
The scherzo has a good deal of material that’s in a sprightly martial vein
– think of Tchaikovsky’s
Pathétique Symphony - and there’s lots of
deft, precise playing here. The trio is slower and
cantabile in
nature. Introduced magisterially, the slow movement takes the form of a
passacaglia. Once the opening bars are past the music is initially graceful
though it gradually grows in intensity before easing back to a quiet ending.
The reading by the Taneyevs is the more imposing and grave of the two and
their performance is more expansive – it plays for 1:40 longer. I find both
readings impressive and it’s good to hear two different takes on the music
but subjectively my preference is for Zassimova and friends. The finale
opens in lively vein. The music is energetic and very positive in tone and
is projected strongly here; it’s tumultuous stuff. Then around 5:23 the flow
is stemmed by a reminiscence of material form the first movement and from
this proceeds a lovely, tranquil episode. From this builds a huge, ecstatic
ending which sometimes sounds like pealing bells. Here Zassimova and her
four collaborators produce tone that is almost orchestral in magnitude,
bringing this rich quintet to a magnificent conclusion.
I was gripped by this music and even more so by the performance. The
Taneyev Quartet and Fidler also make a splendid showing and their recording
is not at all bad given that it’s over 45 years old now. However, this new
CPO account will take some beating. Incidentally, should you wish to invest
in both recordings – and I think there are compelling reasons why you should
– then the Piano Quintet is the only work that’s common to both sets. The
Taneyevs also offer their eponymous composer’s two string quintets.
Zassimova and her colleagues concentrate on Taneyev’s other chamber music
for piano and strings. The
Piano Quartet is in three
movements. The first,
Allegro brillante, has its passionate moments
but there’s also a lot of more delicate, deft writing and throughout there’s
excellent interplay between the four parts. The middle movement is a
predominantly expansive, lyrical composition with a good deal of soaring
violin writing. At 3:00 there is a much quicker, impetuous episode but the
lingering lyrical mood is soon re-established and this time round a brief,
ardent climax is achieved. The extended finale includes a fugal episode. I
particularly enjoyed the last few minutes which are full of appealing
lyrical writing.
The
Piano Trio reverts to a four-movement structure. The
first contains a good deal of energetic, confident writing with plenty of
counterpoint. However, the next ardent, lyrical passage is never far away.
The longest movement an
Allegro molto, is placed second,. Here
driving scherzo material encases a central set of variations. The slow
movement contains a good deal of lovely, expressive music. Rather unusually,
there’s a violin cadenza which acts as a bridge to the finale, which follows
without a break. This is extrovert, energetic and good-humoured.
These are three fine works and if I express a strong preference for the
Quintet that’s an entirely subjective selection which should not be taken to
diminish the worth of the other two pieces. All three works reminded me at
times of Brahms and all of them are well worth hearing. As for the
performances, well these five musicians really strike sparks off each other
and they play with huge commitment and finesse. To the best of my knowledge
the four string players don’t regularly perform as a quartet so this is not
a case of an established quartet teaming up with a pianist. However, you
would not know that since the performances are taut and seem to me to
bespeak a unanimity of approach such as you’d expect to hear from a
quartet.
I count the Piano Quintet as a major personal discovery and I urge you to
hear this terrific set for yourself.
John Quinn
