Romantic Dreams
Louise FARRENC (1804-1875)
Quintet for piano and strings No.1 in A minor Op.30 (1839) [31:10]
Camille SAINT-SAËNS (1835-1921)
Quintet for piano and strings in A minor Op.14 (1855) [32:25]
Ironwood
Rec. 2019/2020 at Eugene Goossens Hall, Sydney
ABC CLASSICS 4819887 [63:47]
This is the first music by Louise Farrenc that I have heard. A native Parisian she had a distinguished career as a concert pianist and composer. She was also a teacher having been appointed as the first female professor at the Paris Conservatoire and the only female appointed to that institution in the 19th century. Her pianistic lineage was certainly distinctive having studied under Ignaz Moscheles and Johann Nepomuk Hummel and her gifts as a composer are in part due to her studies with Antonin Reicha. Not surprisingly the Piano Quintet in A minor inhabits the same world as Schubert, Moscheles and at times Mendelssohn; the piano is featured quite strongly and Farrenc replaces one of the violins with double bass. In this she follows the example of Hummel in his own arrangement of his op.74 Septet and, more famously Schubert's Trout quintet written some twenty years earlier.
The first movement is based around two themes, a sad, lilting theme presented by the viola and a slower but more optimistic theme played first by the piano. There is a good amount of virtuoso writing here that would not be out of place in a Hummel Piano Concerto. The second movement opens with a delicate little theme played high in the cello with a sparse accompaniment from the piano; a dramatic central section in the minor key follows before the main theme returns in more decorated form. The scherzo is delightfully ebullient presto with a quirky off beat second theme and some wonderful interplay between piano and strings. The finale opens with the theme in the strings over a flowing semiquaver accompaniment in the piano. The second theme is give to the piano for a brief moment of quiet before the strings regain the melody and carry it through the con fuoco development section, full of dotted rhythms and piano passagework. The piano has one more moment with the second theme but it soon returns to its role as virtuoso accompanist before the movement calms to a tranquil end, somewhat surprising after the drama that has gone before.
The A minor Quintet by Saint-Saëns may have only been written sixteen years after the Farrenc but they are worlds apart in terms of style and instrumental timbre. Like Farrenc Saint-Saëns was also a virtuoso pianist and this is evident in the florid writing for the instrument throughout although there is more dialogue and dramatic tension between the instruments, whether in the opening movement's gripping martial theme, the interplay in the beautiful slow movement with its varied textures or the graded climaxes in the perpetual motion of the presto third movement. The piano is briefly banished in the finale allowing the string quartet to play a lyrical fugue which disappears when the piano enters, now accompanying a new theme in the strings. Elements of the fugue appear but these now act in counterpoint with other themes and it is this interplay which is more an element of this movement than virtuoso display notwithstanding the demands made on all players. Despite its relative familiarity this was a new work to me and I was delighted with its invention and drama.
Ironwood are an Australian period instrument ensemble established in 2006; they play these works with great conviction and drama. The extensive notes describe their well researched approach to perfomance practice that would relate to this music including study of the writings and recordings of French and Belgian violinists as well as the recordings that Saint-Saëns himself made in 1904 and 1919. One finds distinct differences from modern practice, noticeably the many portamento in the strings and, to a greater extent, the dislocation of the hands in the piano part and extensive use of arpeggiation of chords. Both are quite prevalent and though this makes for a dramatic opening to the first movement of the Saint-Saëns with its grand spread of chords I found the dislocation distracting at times, with nearly all octaves played with the lower note fractionally ahead of the upper. A particular instance is the second theme of the opening movement of the Farrenc which the piano introduces; here there is a combination of dislocation, arpeggiation and a gentle rubato that at first sounds mannered to my ears. Further listening has helped me appreciate the style more though it takes some getting used to. When the piano has the fugue subject in the finale of the Saint-Saëns there is no dislocation, presumably to distinguish the academic mood of the theme from its romantic use elsewhere. As I have suggested these performances are gripping in their drama and character and are, after all, emulating as best they can a performance style that is long past so it is well worth taking the time to enjoy this vibrant music making.
Rob Challinor
Previous review: Stuart Sillitoe
Performers
Rachel Beesley, Robin Wilson (violin)
Simon Oswell (viola)
Daniel Yeadon (cello)
Robert Nairn (double bass)
Neal Peres da Costa (piano)
