Schubert: Piano Quintet in A major, D667 'The Trout' (Die Forelle)

Both of the works featured here illustrate Schubert’s mastery of melodic and harmonic possibilities. “Vermeulen must be the ideal Schubert player… an astonishing range of dynamics form a powerful fortissimo to an especially beautiful pianissimo, and it has a wonderful clarity of articulation.” Early Music Review

Recording locations: Victoria Hall, Geneva, Switzerland, May 1950 (Schubert: Piano Quintet); Grosser Saal, Musikverein, Vienna, Austria, April 1954 (Schubert: Octet); Vienna, Austria, June 1953 (Mendelssohn)

This recording forms part of a series of 10 reissues celebrating the glorious Decca recordings from the 1950s-1970s of the Wiener Oktett (Vienna Octet), made up of key principals from the Wiener Philharmoniker and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra.

This collection brings together three of the most enduring chamber music masterpieces ever written. Mendelssohn’s Octet remains an absolute teenage marvel, never mind what Mozart wrote at a similar or younger age, or what child prodigies have accomplished since. Schubert’s “Trout” is one of his most joyous works and his Octet was one of the Wiener Oktett’s signature pieces, admired not only by a legion of concertgoers, record collectors and critics, but also the aged Richard Strauss who heard the ensemble perform this work.

What makes this set even more attractive is that the recordings of each of these pieces are rare and much sought-after. The Mendelssohn was the first of the ensemble’s two recordings (1953, 1972). The Schubert “Trout” Quintet was more famously recorded in 1957 with Clifford Curzon, but this 1950 recording, with the Oktett’s regular pianist, Walter Panhofer, is perhaps even more sublime. The Octet’s recording dates from 1954. It was recorded again in 1958, but for many, this first reading, which has never appeared on CD before, is perhaps even more spontaneous.

Distinguished commentator Tully Potter’s notes on the music and the performers are witty and engaging, adding yet another dimension to the reissue of these recordings, much loved as they have (until now) been much missed.

"This is a performance of high quality. Sviatoslav Richter in particular precisely catches the cheerful mood of the music and the underlying shadows of which one should sometimes be conscious, and he plays those simple tunes in octaves so freshly that you’d think he’d only just discovered their charms." Gramophone Magazine

EMI MASTERS celebrates the full glory of the greatest performances from the world's greatest catalogue of recorded music. Digitally remastered at Abbey Road Studios direct from the original master tapes, these classic recordings emerge with unparalleled immediacy. You will be left in no doubt that you are in the presence of legendary musicians and ageless interpretations.

Martin Helmchen and Christian Tetzlaff lead a superb line-up of young musicians in these, some of the best loved, of all chamber works.