If I’m not mistaken
Volume One in this series, which I
reviewed here, was followed by Volume
Three and now we backtrack for this
one. All are, in any case, reissues
of a Marco Polo series devoted to Spohr’s
Quartets and Quintets in commendably
resilient performances given by the
New Haydn Quartet (elsewhere the Danubius
Quartet play a strong role in the series),
augmented in the Quintets by their compatriot
Sándor Papp.
The B minor Quintet
dates from Spohr’s first years in Kassel,
a time of considerable renown for the
virtuoso violinist composer, as his
opera Jessonda and oratorio Die
letzten Dinge had recently been
performed to acclaim. The quatuor
brillant style, of which Spohr was
so established a master, is still evident
in these works and the first violin
is decidedly primus inter pares as well
– in works Spohr would himself have
played this is no surprise. He manages
technical adroitness and expressive
delicacy, maintaining in the first movement
a good balance between the pensive and
the fresh and vests the Scherzo with
a confident if avuncular drive. As the
notes rightly say the slow movement,
taken at good and forward-moving tempo
here, has a hymnal quality about it,
the first violin also soaring high above
the reflective material. The finale
is a touch long winded but affable and
beautifully lucid in compositional terms
- a barcarolle-like movement that often
moves into the major but that ends with
quiescent, almost quizzical introspection.
The later A minor Quintet
rather lacks those qualities that make
the B minor so attractive and despite
the valiant efforts of Keith Warsop,
Chairman of the Spohr Society of Great
Britain in his notes, this is a less
rewarding work to which to listen. Spohr’s
affinity of and mastery over the elastic
melody in his writing is evident of
course, but the thematic material is
not quite as august as the B minor.
There is undeniably a certain purity
to the profile of the Larghetto and
sufficient contrast to keep it alive
but the most consistently inventive
movement is the lively and eventful
Minuetto and Scherzo –with its unexpected
and unusual form. The finale is bright
and airy with a well-judged fugal section.
Sound quality is good;
on balance slightly preferable to the
first volume where there was a slight
congestion in the inner voices. Spohr’s
chamber music deserves revaluation and
despite my relative lack of enthusiasm
for the later Quintet that shouldn’t
dissuade you from investigating this
series.
Jonathan Woolf
New Haydn Quartet with Sándor Papp (viola
II) 