Schumann: Piano Quartet in E flat major, Op. 47

A great deal of Leipzig’s 19th century musical history can be attributed to the three composers on this disc; Mendelssohn, Schumann and Jadassohn (1831-1902). The musicians of the Leipzig Piano Quintet present a survey of the music written for a Piano Quintet from this time.

The Piano Quintet Op.44 and Piano Quartet Op.47 date from a brief period during which Schumann focused his attention intensively on chamber music (between June 1842 and January 1843). These works underline his wish to escape from the solo piano, now ‘too restricted’ for his overflowing imagination, as he told Clara. The Quintet, which made a powerful impression on Wagner, is probably one of his most sophisticated works, into which Schumann poured all the creative energy he derived from meticulous examination of similar works by his predecessors, especially Beethoven, Mendelssohn and Schubert.

Alexander Melnikov joins the Jerusalem Quartet, nominated for a 3rd BBC Music Magazine Award in 2012.

The Pro Arte Piano Quartet was made up of leading London-based instrumentalists, many of whom also played in the Melos Ensemble of London. Pianist Lamar Crowson was, and remains, one of the great chamber music pianists of all time (and a soloist in his own right). Kenneth Sillito led, for several years, the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields. Terence Weil was principal cellist of the English Chamber Orchestra and, like viola player Cecil Aronowitz, a founding member of the Melos Ensemble. Together they made three records for L’Oiseau-Lyre, the Decca subsidiary and they are all now issued on Decca Eloquence from Australia.

If the year 1840 saw Schumann discover his talent for songwriting – more than 130 were composed that year – in 1842 he brought his beloved piano into the world of chamber music writing both, the Piano Quartet and the Piano Quintet that year. ‘They seemed to please players and listeners alike, particularly Mendelssohn’ he said of these works. Though vigorous and songful, it is not rugged – a quality which could be attributed to Brahms’s Piano Quartet No. 3. Though the last of the three to be published, it is conceivable that Brahms began work on it much earlier. Both pieces continue to be staples in the chamber music repertoire.

This set is DVD Audio-only and WILL NOT play on an ordinary CD player.

The Benvenue Fortepiano Trio concludes its acclaimed and ear-opening traversal of period-instrument performances of Schumann's Piano Trios, supplemented with the Piano Quartet and Kinderszenen.

The Benvenue Fortepiano Trio's acclaimed accounts of Schumann's First and Third Piano Trios opened the ears of chamber music devotees with the crystalline textures of its period instruments and the drawing-room intimacy of its interpretations. Anchored by the enterprising violinist Monica Huggett who has produced numerous chart-topping recordings and a Grammy® nomination for AVIE, the Trio completes Schumann's canon for the genre, complementing the Second Trio with the Piano Quartet and casting the spotlight on Eric Zivian and his mellifluous 1841 instrument with his rendition of Schumann's beloved Kinderszenen.

Between 1841 and 1843 Schumann wrote some of his greatest chamber works, among them the Piano Quartet and the Piano Quintet, both in E flat major. Written in an astonishing five-day period, the Quintet displays both the heroic and the lyric impulses in his music, boldness contrasting with songful tenderness, and march themes with lyricism. The Piano Quartet also exudes such qualities, not least in the ravishing slow movement, and the masterful breadth of Schumann’s expression. The four Märchenerzählungen are happy, energetic pieces.

The Mozart Piano Quartet presents two highlights of the romantic chamber music literature as live recordings. The performances demonstrate why these musicians have been able to play their way to the top international ranks in a very short time. This recording will make you wish that you had been there.