Cesar Franck Piano Quintet: Why so few recordings?

whiskynsplash

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Mar 9, 2015, 1:06:26 AM3/9/15

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Yesterday I went to a Dallas-area chamber music concert under the aegis of Chamber Music International (CMI). The first half included Schubert's Four Impromptus Op. 90 and second half of the program was the Franck Piano Quintet, the pianist being Jon Nakamatsu (a Cliburn winner). It was the first time I've ever heard the work live and was impressed by it and whistled the Cyclic Big Tune all the way home. Nakamatsu has had a low-key but active concert career in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, unlike some Cliburn winners who seem to have dropped out of sight. Last week for another Chamber music concert given by the Chamber Music Society (yes, we have two societies -- for reasons that are unknown to me), he was the accompanist in the Bernstein Clarinet Sonata, a Brahms violin sonata, and Bartok's Contrasts.

Jon Nakamatsu does not have a big burnished tone like a Sviatoslav Richter, he is a smallish chap with small hands but he does do a competent job in tickling the ivories. After I got home and consumed some cheesy comestibles I came over all peckish for the Piano Quintet and turned to the old collection which I keep physically sorted by composer. Unlike Randy Lane I do not slice 'n dice my collection in a database. I am just too damn lazy and anyway databases have very rudimentary security and are usually the first line of attack for hackers or crackers to steal your credit cards and private information.

I thumbed through the ole collection and Shock! Horror! I discovered that I had only ONE recording -- the Sviatoslav Richter Borodin Quartet on Philips, recorded in the Pushkin Museum, Moscow, 12/1981. How in God's name can I call myself a collector and infest RMCR when I have only *one* item of a great work? I beg the wise old men and women of RMCR to set me straight.

[On further shucking and jiving I found another recording -- Martha Argerich and Friends Live from the Lugano Festival 2003 which I store under "Collections". There may be more but the principle is the same. I have just too damn few recordings of the Franck Piano Quintet and there do not seem to be many more available even though there are billionz and billionz of recordings of the Violin Sonata, the Symphonic Variations for Piano & Orch., and the Symphony in d minor.]

[I may have further recordings on cassette and Lp, but these media are not Fit for Human Consumption in the 21st century what with SACD and Blue Ray audio and Class A amplifiers and Gerard's brand new speakers and whatnot.]

So, in conclusion, give me a list of recordings that are clearly superior to the ones I've got or die in the attempt.

http://www.dallasnews.com/entertainment/columnists/scott-cantrell/20150307-classical-music-a-powerful-franck-piano-quintet-from-chamber-music-international.ece

Frank Berger

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Mar 9, 2015, 3:02:48 AM3/9/15

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Bolet with the Juilliards. It's in the recent Bolet RCA box. Not aware
of a previous separate CD release.

http://www.amazon.com/Jorge-Bolet-The-Complete-JORGE-BOLET/dp/B00J57KHUC

even though there
> are billionz and billionz of recordings of the Violin Sonata, the
> Symphonic Variations for Piano & Orch., and the Symphony in d
> minor.]
>
> [I may have further recordings on cassette and Lp, but these media
> are not Fit for Human Consumption in the 21st century what with SACD
> and Blue Ray audio and Class A amplifiers and Gerard's brand new
> speakers and whatnot.]
>
> So, in conclusion, give me a list of recordings that are clearly
> superior to the ones I've got or die in the attempt.
>
> http://www.dallasnews.com/entertainment/columnists/scott-cantrell/20150307-classical-music-a-powerful-franck-piano-quintet-from-chamber-music-international.ece
>
>
>
>

---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
http://www.avast.com

Frank Lekens

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Mar 9, 2015, 3:10:02 AM3/9/15

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whiskynsplash schreef op 9-3-2015 06:06:
>
> http://www.dallasnews.com/entertainment/columnists/scott-cantrell/20150307-classical-music-a-powerful-franck-piano-quintet-from-chamber-music-international.ece
>
Ah yes, that website again. Which for some reason or other keeps
blocking all users of one of Holland's biggest and best ISP's. No matter
if you e-mail their webmaster that there's something wrong with their IP
blocking.

--
Frank Lekens

http://fmlekens.home.xs4all.nl/

jrsnfld

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Mar 9, 2015, 3:21:51 AM3/9/15

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On Monday, March 9, 2015 at 12:02:48 AM UTC-7, Frank Berger wrote:

> Bolet with the Juilliards. It's in the recent Bolet RCA box. Not aware
> of a previous separate CD release.
>
> http://www.amazon.com/Jorge-Bolet-The-Complete-JORGE-BOLET/dp/B00J57KHUC

There was, apparently, a previous separate CD release. The Franck was recoupled with the Chausson Concert and issued in Japan. But I've never seen it on CD as it was originally issued on LP, coupled with the Wolf Serenade.

--Jeff

richard...@gmail.com

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Mar 9, 2015, 4:08:03 AM3/9/15

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Richter with the Bolshoi Quartet (1949 or thereabouts) on Venezia, or Amazon DL
Heifetz et al on RCA
Cortot etc
These three cover a rather wide range of styles, though the sound is not state of the art.
Collard etc on EMI
Curzon Vienna philharmonic qt Decca (not to all tastes)

MELMOTH

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Mar 9, 2015, 4:18:04 AM3/9/15

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Ce cher mammifère du nom de richard...@gmail.com nous susurrait,
le lundi 09/03/2015, dans nos oreilles grandes ouvertes mais un peu
sales tout de même, et dans le message
<ef05ed3e-9e77-453f...@googlegroups.com>, les doux
mélismes suivants :

> Richter with the Bolshoi Quartet (1949 or thereabouts) on Venezia, or Amazon
> DL
> Heifetz et al on RCA
> Cortot etc
> These three cover a rather wide range of styles, though the sound is not
> state of the art.
> Collard etc on EMI
> Curzon Vienna philharmonic qt Decca (not to all tastes)

*Samson François* / *Bernède*...

--
Car avec beaucoup de science, il y a beaucoup de chagrin ; et celui qui
accroît sa science accroît sa douleur.
[Ecclésiaste, 1-18]
MELMOTH - souffrant

Gerard

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Mar 9, 2015, 8:29:29 AM3/9/15

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"whiskynsplash" wrote in message
news:f2794ea1-b366-4cd8...@googlegroups.com...

============

I don't know if it is superior. But you always can try (for that price):

Muza Rubackyte / Vilnius String Quartet, on Brilliant Classics.
A twofer, with on the other disc: Franck: string quartet.

cooper...@gmail.com

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Mar 9, 2015, 8:41:55 AM3/9/15

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Historicals: Cortot/International String Quartet (esp. crisp finale); Eymar/Loewenguth; Darre/Pascal. I've obtained downloads of varying quality over the years. Also agree with the recommendation of Richter/Bolshoi.

AC

Andrew Clarke

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Mar 9, 2015, 8:46:43 AM3/9/15

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On Monday, March 9, 2015 at 4:06:26 PM UTC+11, whiskynsplash wrote:
> Yesterday I went to a Dallas-area chamber music concert under the aegis of Chamber Music International (CMI). The first half included Schubert's Four Impromptus Op. 90 and second half of the program was the Franck Piano Quintet,

Cristina Ortiz, Fine Arts Quartet. Coupled with the String Quartet. Naxos 8.572009. Gramophone Editor's Choice.

Andrew Clarke
Canberra

Lionel Tacchini

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Mar 9, 2015, 11:50:18 AM3/9/15

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I wonder if anyone here has heard the orchestral version of the work.
--
Lionel Tacchini

weary flake

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Mar 9, 2015, 12:29:46 PM3/9/15

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> peckish for the Piano Quintet and turned to the old collection which I
> keep physically sorted by composer.

I sort mine by composer, genre, soloist, conductor,
label, etc., arbitrarily by whatever I think seems
most important at the moment. Franck quintets
mostly are grouped into chamber music, though that
section is getting a little big.

> Unlike Randy Lane I do not slice 'n dice my collection in a database. I
> am just too damn lazy and anyway databases have very rudimentary
> security and are usually the first line of attack for hackers or
> crackers to steal your credit cards and private information.

Ah, local vs "cloud" databases. Cloud means
remote storage while local means stored on your
own computer. Oughtn't be too much personal
information on a local music database. As for
laziness, I feel your pain.

> I thumbed through the ole collection and Shock! Horror! I discovered
> that I had only ONE recording -- the Sviatoslav Richter Borodin Quartet
> on Philips, recorded in the Pushkin Museum, Moscow, 12/1981. How in
> God's name can I call myself a collector and infest RMCR when I have
> only *one* item of a great work? I beg the wise old men and women of
> RMCR to set me straight.

Plenty of quintets available, arkivmusic.com lists
34 different and duplicate recordings, 14 of which
are different recordings on discs dedicated to
Franck, and there's more than what's there.

Ricardo Jimenez

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Mar 9, 2015, 12:34:14 PM3/9/15

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Not me, but perhaps somebody who has attended concerts in the Berlin
Philharmonic Hall has. I foung this online:
http://www.iralevin.net/bio/
*The Finnish Edition Tilli has published all of his numerous
transcriptions for piano. His orchestrations for large orchestra of
Busoni’s monumental piano work, Fantasia Contrappuntistica, Liszt’s
Fantasy and Fugue on BACH, Franck’s piano quintet as Symphony in
f-minor and five piano and choral works by Rachmaninoff as Five Pieces
for Orchestra have had performances with the Berlin Symphony at Berlin
Philharmonic Hall, with the leading orchestras of Hannover, Helsinki,
Turku, Buenos Aires, Porto Alegre, Montevideo and elsewhere. They are
published by Edition Tilli and will be also be represented worldwide
by Boosey and Hawkes.

This is not the Ira Levin who wrote "Rosemary's Baby".

weary flake

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Mar 9, 2015, 12:40:35 PM3/9/15

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On 2015-03-09 07:09:55 +0000, Frank Lekens said:

> whiskynsplash schreef op 9-3-2015 06:06:
>>
>> http://www.dallasnews.com/entertainment/columnists/scott-cantrell/20150307-classical-music-a-powerful-franck-piano-quintet-from-chamber-music-international.ece
>>
>>
> Ah yes, that website again. Which for some reason or other keeps
> blocking all users of one of Holland's biggest and best ISP's. No
> matter if you e-mail their webmaster that there's something wrong with
> their IP blocking.

That's one of the stupid things websites do.
I'll sum up the article for you: Franck's
quintet is a good thing though Franck's wife
suspected it was dedictated to a girl music
student who was so hot she could make a gay
man like saint-saens propose to her. The
pianist Jon Nakamatsu, violinists Paul
Rosenthal and Clare Adkins Cason, violist Paul
Coletti and cellist Bion Tsang performed it
on Mar 07, 2015.

Lionel Tacchini

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Mar 9, 2015, 1:01:14 PM3/9/15

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Yes, this is the one I had in mind. It was premiered by Segerstam in
Helsinki last year in a very broad and quite interesting rendition.

--
Lionel Tacchini

tomdeacon

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Mar 9, 2015, 1:23:02 PM3/9/15

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Try the Curzon recording. Can't recall the label. Decca?
--
TD

arri bachrach

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Mar 9, 2015, 1:46:42 PM3/9/15

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> http://www.avast.com

just listened to the Bolet yesterday..... excellent with great sound. When he was on, Bolet was a very great pianist.

AB

John Wiser

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Mar 9, 2015, 1:53:16 PM3/9/15

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"tomdeacon" <david...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:883391720447614539.55972...@news.individual.net...

I presume you mean the Decca studio recording with the Vienna Philharmonic Quartet:
http://www.amazon.com/Dvorak-Franck-Piano-Quintets/dp/B00000E3OS
There are at least two broadcast recordings on the market also:
http://www.amazon.com/Music-Mozart-Franck-Strauss-R/dp/B000056P0Q
http://www.amazon.com/Piano-Quintet-Major-C-Franck/dp/B001AGNM3U

None of which IMO are quite first-rate, which is not Curzon's fault.

jdw

JohnGavin

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Mar 9, 2015, 3:52:06 PM3/9/15

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I have been greatly enjoying this performance of the Franck Quintet from Verbier with Joshua Bell, Pamela Frank, (forgot the voila players name), Stephen Isserlis and Marc Andre Hamelin.

I watch it through Apple TV and Bose Speakers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lx8TESG-Osc

It is the last of 3 pieces, following the Brahms Trio with Bell, Isserlis and Hamelin.

The Franck is a magnificent piece.

richard...@gmail.com

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Mar 9, 2015, 6:12:26 PM3/9/15

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I love your typo. I wonder if all viola players would rather be 'Voila!' players- stardom may appeal. Too bad he remains nameless though. Insufficient impact I suppose.

graham

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Mar 9, 2015, 6:20:32 PM3/9/15

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Nobuko Imai
Click on the "Show more"!
Graham

--
"Excess on occasion is exhilarating.
It prevents moderation from acquiring
the deadening effect of habit."
W. Somerset Maugham

JohnGavin

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Mar 9, 2015, 6:25:25 PM3/9/15

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My too fast fingers messed up the spelling of viola, and the name of the player, but I do remember that it was a she.

Steve Emerson

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Mar 9, 2015, 7:50:04 PM3/9/15

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In article <f2794ea1-b366-4cd8...@googlegroups.com>,

whiskynsplash <whisky...@yahoo.com> wrote:

>
> I thumbed through the ole collection and Shock! Horror! I discovered that I
> had only ONE recording -- the Sviatoslav Richter Borodin Quartet on Philips,
> recorded in the Pushkin Museum, Moscow, 12/1981. How in God's name can I call
> myself a collector and infest RMCR when I have only *one* item of a great
> work? I beg the wise old men and women of RMCR to set me straight.
>
> [On further shucking and jiving I found another recording -- Martha Argerich
> and Friends Live from the Lugano Festival 2003 which I store under
> "Collections". There may be more but the principle is the same. I have just
> too damn few recordings of the Franck Piano Quintet and there do not seem to
> be many more available even though there are billionz and billionz of
> recordings of the Violin Sonata, the Symphonic Variations for Piano & Orch.,
> and the Symphony in d minor.]
>
> [I may have further recordings on cassette and Lp, but these media are not
> Fit for Human Consumption in the 21st century what with SACD and Blue Ray
> audio and Class A amplifiers and Gerard's brand new speakers and whatnot.]

When LPs are not fit for human consumption, it's time to upgrade the
equipment.

> So, in conclusion, give me a list of recordings that are clearly superior to
> the ones I've got or die in the attempt.

Well, I don't think this will kill me, but:

Richter/Bolshoi Quartet (sometimes known as Richter/names of the
musicians) really is much more exciting than the Philips date with the
Borodins,

And the other utterly great recording I know is Bernathova/Janacek
Quartet. On vinyl or on a Japanese CD. This is a more multi-faceted and
(by the quartet) better-played performance than the above.

Quatuor Ludwig with the redoubtable Michael Levinas, on Naxos, is also
terrific and can hold its own with the Borodin Qtt account.

The previously mentioned Francois/Bernede is strong, and so is Catherine
Collard/Orlando Quartet.

SE.

cooper...@gmail.com

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Mar 9, 2015, 10:37:22 PM3/9/15

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Here's Eymar/Loewenguth: http://quartier-des-archives.blogspot.com/2009/05/franck-quintette-pour-piano-et-cordes.html (links are still active). The Loewenguth recording of the String Quartet is on the same site.

AC

AC

Russ (not Martha)

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Mar 9, 2015, 11:32:27 PM3/9/15

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On Monday, March 9, 2015 at 11:34:14 AM UTC-5, Ricardo Jimenez wrote:

> *The Finnish Edition Tilli has published all of [Ira Levin's] numerous

> transcriptions for piano. His orchestrations for large orchestra of
> Busoni's monumental piano work, Fantasia Contrappuntistica, Liszt's
> Fantasy and Fugue on BACH, Franck's piano quintet as Symphony in

> f-minor . . .

Didn't know there existed an orchestral version of Franck's PF Quintet. I wish Levin (or Peter Breiner or someone) would tackle the Three Chorales.

I would love to live long enough to see a CD of Franck orchestrations to include the Chorales, the PF Quintet, and Charles O'Connell's orchestrations of the Grand Pièce Symphonique and the Pièce Héroïque. The latter two have been in the catalog only as 78s.

Russ (not Martha)

jrsnfld

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Mar 10, 2015, 2:26:17 AM3/10/15

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On Monday, March 9, 2015 at 4:50:04 PM UTC-7, Steve Emerson wrote:
>
>
> > So, in conclusion, give me a list of recordings that are clearly superior to
> > the ones I've got or die in the attempt.
>
>
> Well, I don't think this will kill me, but:
>
> Richter/Bolshoi Quartet (sometimes known as Richter/names of the
> musicians) really is much more exciting than the Philips date with the
> Borodins,

That's my impression as well, though I admit I haven't compared them directly. I just remember being less than enthused about the Philips recording when I borrowed a listen, and I never bought it. The recording with the Bolshoi sweeps me off my feet each time.

Less tempestuous, but dreamy good, is another Juilliard Q recording--the live Library of Congress concert issued on DoReMi (yes the label with famously dim, processed sound--seems fine for my purposes!) with Claudio Arrau.

--Jeff

dk

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Mar 10, 2015, 2:29:23 AM3/10/15

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On Sunday, March 8, 2015 at 10:06:26 PM UTC-7, whiskynsplash wrote:
> Yesterday I went to a Dallas-area chamber music concert under the aegis of Chamber Music International (CMI). The first half included Schubert's Four Impromptus Op. 90 and second half of the program was the Franck Piano Quintet, the pianist being Jon Nakamatsu (a Cliburn winner). It was the first time I've ever heard the work live and was impressed by it and whistled the Cyclic Big Tune all the way home. Nakamatsu has had a low-key but active concert career in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, unlike some Cliburn winners who seem to have dropped out of sight. Last week for another Chamber music concert given by the Chamber Music Society (yes, we have two societies -- for reasons that are unknown to me), he was the accompanist in the Bernstein Clarinet Sonata, a Brahms violin sonata, and Bartok's Contrasts.
>
> Jon Nakamatsu does not have a big burnished tone like a Sviatoslav Richter, he is a smallish chap with small hands but he does do a competent job in tickling the ivories. After I got home and consumed some cheesy comestibles I came over all peckish for the Piano Quintet and turned to the old collection which I keep physically sorted by composer. Unlike Randy Lane I do not slice 'n dice my collection in a database. I am just too damn lazy and anyway databases have very rudimentary security and are usually the first line of attack for hackers or crackers to steal your credit cards and private information.
>
> I thumbed through the ole collection and Shock! Horror! I discovered that
> I had only ONE recording -- the Sviatoslav Richter Borodin Quartet on
> Philips, recorded in the Pushkin Museum, Moscow, 12/1981. How in God's
> name can I call myself a collector and infest RMCR when I have only *one*
> item of a great work? I beg the wise old men and women of RMCR to set me
> straight.

Richter is sufficient.

dk

dk

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Mar 10, 2015, 2:30:18 AM3/10/15

to

You can find it on YT.

dk

dk

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Mar 10, 2015, 2:32:07 AM3/10/15

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On Monday, March 9, 2015 at 8:32:27 PM UTC-7, Russ (not Martha) wrote:
> On Monday, March 9, 2015 at 11:34:14 AM UTC-5, Ricardo Jimenez wrote:
>
> > *The Finnish Edition Tilli has published all of [Ira Levin's] numerous
> > transcriptions for piano. His orchestrations for large orchestra of
> > Busoni's monumental piano work, Fantasia Contrappuntistica, Liszt's
> > Fantasy and Fugue on BACH, Franck's piano quintet as Symphony in
> > f-minor . . .
>
> Didn't know there existed an orchestral version of Franck's PF Quintet. I wish Levin (or Peter Breiner or someone) would tackle the Three Chorales.

Try Timur Sergeyenia on YT.

dk

josq...@aol.com

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Mar 10, 2015, 4:24:44 AM3/10/15

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On Monday, March 9, 2015 at 10:37:22 PM UTC-4, cooper...@gmail.com wrote:

> Here's Eymar/Loewenguth: http://quartier-des-archives.blogspot.com/2009/05/franck-quintette-pour-piano-et-cordes.html (links are still active). The Loewenguth recording of the String Quartet is on the same site.
>
> AC

The Loewenguth is also available on ITunes in a good transfer - a really great, passionate performance.

Years ago I had the Richter/Bolshoi on an LP - but the sound was horrendous (This one: http://www.gemm.com/store/DUSTYCOATS/item/SVIATOSLAV-RICHTER-CESAR-FRANCK-SVIATOSLAV-RICHTER-CESAR-FRANCK-BOLSHOI-STRING-QUARTET-PIANO-QUINTET-IN-F-12-33-LP-Album/1470077944)

This version is now available for download, I see, at ITunes and Amazon - I was wondering if anyone has it and can tell about the sound quality - I know the performance is great!

Thanks...

Don Petter

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Mar 10, 2015, 5:55:15 AM3/10/15

to

On Sun, 8 Mar 2015 22:06:21 -0700 (PDT), whiskynsplash
<whisky...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
[snip]
>
>

Time someone mentioned Aller/Hollywood?

Don.

cooper...@gmail.com

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Mar 10, 2015, 9:39:38 AM3/10/15

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Excellent (the posting, I mean--I'm not so keen on the performance), in keeping with the RMCR rule that if a thread continues long enough, every recording will be mentioned. So it's up to me to note that the early '50s Westminster of Sokoloff/Curtis Qt is available from itunes. I haven't heard it, but based on what I have heard (Schumann and Dohnanyi come to mind), the Curtis was an outstanding group. It would be nice if the gigantic Westminster dumps would include some of their recordings instead of or in addition to the avalanche of mediocre Viennese stuff.

AC

Ricardo Jimenez

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Mar 10, 2015, 10:42:13 AM3/10/15

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On Mon, 9 Mar 2015 23:32:04 -0700 (PDT), dk <dan....@gmail.com>

The Youtube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7VyQ15EDdw is the
original with multi strings. The Levin is a purely orchestral
arrangement without piano.

Steve Emerson

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Mar 10, 2015, 3:05:05 PM3/10/15

to

In article <a0fd6a0a-1fb5-4b15...@googlegroups.com>,

josq...@aol.com wrote:

> On Monday, March 9, 2015 at 10:37:22 PM UTC-4, cooper...@gmail.com wrote:
>
> > Here's Eymar/Loewenguth:
> > http://quartier-des-archives.blogspot.com/2009/05/franck-quintette-pour-pian
> > o-et-cordes.html (links are still active). The Loewenguth recording of the
> > String Quartet is on the same site.
> >
> > AC
>
> The Loewenguth is also available on ITunes in a good transfer - a really
> great, passionate performance.
>
> Years ago I had the Richter/Bolshoi on an LP - but the sound was horrendous
> (This one:
> http://www.gemm.com/store/DUSTYCOATS/item/SVIATOSLAV-RICHTER-CESAR-FRANCK-SVIA
> TOSLAV-RICHTER-CESAR-FRANCK-BOLSHOI-STRING-QUARTET-PIANO-QUINTET-IN-F-12-33-LP
> -Album/1470077944)

There were better releases than that one (better pressings). Sound is
passable via Parlophone-Odeon.

> This version is now available for download, I see, at ITunes and Amazon - I
> was wondering if anyone has it and can tell about the sound quality - I know
> the performance is great!
>
> Thanks...

Can't answer about that, but I'd be pretty confident as to the Venezia
CD release, which will also give you Richter's phenomenal Brahms quintet
with the Borodins (early recording):

http://tinyurl.com/p6msdk4

Thanks to an earlier poster for mentioning the Venezia.

SE.

richard...@gmail.com

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Mar 10, 2015, 4:30:46 PM3/10/15

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I am the person with the Venezia CD, and with an LP whose wretched sound is surpassed only by a Saga LP I have from the early 60s with a set of AMAZING performances of Tchaikovsky in sound that makes the Toscanini NYPSO Beethoven 7th 78s sound like hifi. I posted a digital transfer of the LP to symphonyshare a year or two ago. Imagine the sound of an LP played with a steel 78 needle at 2oz tracking force, before being shipped. The Venezia CD is not bad at all, even in comparison to contemporary western recordings. Clear mono.
For anyone interested in getting the Richter Bolshoi CD it's reasonably priced at HMV Japan, and they also have a Golovanov set on Venezia that's well worth geting too. Similarly improved sound over the LPs.
http://www.hmv.co.jp/en/search/music/advanced_1/category_1/formattype_1/genre_VARIOUS_700/keyword_golovanov/labelcode_%23VENZ/pagesize_1/target_CLASSIC/

cooper...@gmail.com

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Mar 10, 2015, 5:12:09 PM3/10/15

to

The Richter/Borodin Brahms is phenomenal indeed. For the Richter/Bolshoi Franck Quintet, there's also a Vista Vera issue c/w the Bolshoi rendition of Haydn op. 77/1. Any comments? And how is the Franck available for download from itunes?

AC

MM

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Mar 10, 2015, 7:43:20 PM3/10/15

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richard...@gmail.com wrote:

> So, in conclusion, give me a list of recordings that are clearly
> superior to the ones I've got or die in the attempt.

The ones I seem to enjoy most:

Jeanne-Marie Darré, Quatuor Pasca [Shinseido SGR-8562]
Lucette Descaves, Quatuor Gabriel Bouillon [Shinseido SGR-8553]
Jacqueline Eymar, Quatuor Loewenguth [Forgotten Records FR 115]

HTH,

Miguel Montfort

--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: ne...@netfront.net ---

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Mar 11, 2015, 1:50:04 AM3/11/15

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In article <a56046c9-1ec3-4d31...@googlegroups.com>,

Anyone willing to brave the waters of 4Shared.com can still find my
transfer of the Parlophone-Odeon release of Richter-Bolshoi in the
quintet -- here:

http://www.4shared.com/zip/_BgLcCSK/RichterFranckQuintetFLACsjpgs.html

I think it sounds fine via this decent pressing. You want to click the
discreet white button at the middle of the page, left side, above the
blue one that says "Priority Download." Don't click that, or any of the
others. Repeat, do not click the others. You can sign in via Facebook,
e.g.

The Pro Arte's account of the quartet is one that I've never liked. I'd
suggest either the Prague Quartet (via any of the three recordings they
made; a good lead from John Wiser on this) -- or the Loewenguth
performance linked to by Alan; I actually prefer it what they and the
great Eymar do with the quintet. There's a disc by the Petersens that
has my mouth watering a little; particularly after Spotify listening.

SE.

Herman

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Mar 11, 2015, 2:26:38 AM3/11/15

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On Wednesday, March 11, 2015 at 6:15:14 AM UTC+1, whiskynsplash wrote:

> ------------------------------------------------
> QUIZ: Which quartet did Marcel ask to play the Franck for him in his apartment?
> Prize: One slightly nibbled madeleine.

~Gaston Poulet's quartet, and they played it twice, didn't they?

Johannes Roehl

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Mar 11, 2015, 11:53:30 AM3/11/15

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The Petersen is to my recollection good, not great; I bought the disc mainly for the rarely recorded string quartet (admittedly a piece I found considerably less accessible than the quintet).
Heifetz et al. is actually far from a violin concerto although the pianist is certainly not as present/dominant as with some other recordings. I like it quite a bit because the piece is "dark" and "fat" enough so a leaner interpretation does not hurt.

MM

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Mar 11, 2015, 2:38:31 PM3/11/15

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whiskynsplash wrote:

[…]

> But reinforcements desperately needed to plug the gaping
> holes in the Franck String Quartet Front. I discovered Horror!
> Shock! that I (appear to) have only one recording of this great
> quartet, so beloved by Marcel Proust.
>
> Franck: String Quartet in D (1889) recorded 18 & 22/5/1933 HMV DB
2051/6
> Bartok: String Quartet No. 1 (1908) recorded 3/10 & 2/11/1934 HMV
DB 2379/82
>
> The Pro Arte Quartet, Biddulph Recordings LAB 106 (1995)
> Transfers by David Lennick
>
> Gimme More!

Here you are:

Quatuor Loewenguth [LP Philips A00304L]
Kocian Quartet [CD Praga PRD 250 141]
Quatuor Ysaÿe [CD Ysaÿe Records YR03]

Al Eisner

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Mar 11, 2015, 6:05:43 PM3/11/15

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On Tue, 10 Mar 2015, Steve Emerson wrote:

> There's a disc by the Petersens that
> has my mouth watering a little; particularly after Spotify listening.

Given this thread, I was curious to see what Berkshire might have.
This Petersen CD (with Franck's Quartet) is the only performance
they list.
--
Al Eisner

whiskynsplash

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Mar 13, 2015, 12:17:32 AM3/13/15

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You are correct.

From Marcel Proust, A Life
Jean-Yves Tadie Translated by Euan Cameron
Chapter XIV "The Novel of 1914" Section: Music

As Proust wrote, "for some years ... Beethoven's last quartets and the music of Franck had been [his] principal spiritual nourishment". To this, one should add Faure. On 14th April he attended a Faure festival given at the Odeon by the Poulet Quartet, with the composer at the piano. A few days earlier the Poulet Quartet had come to Proust's home to play Beethoven's Thirteenth Quartet and Franck's quartet. Contemplating a further private concert at which the same players would perform Franck's Quartet and Faure's First Piano Quartet, he hoped that Petain would play the viola in the latter work, and he asked him whether he was also a pianist, so that he could sight-read certain pieces for him. He was even attracted by the musician's lock of hair, just as Charlus is by Morel's. It seems likely that Marcel's interest in this young musician extends beyond music as does Charlus' in Morel or as did Montesquiou's in Delafosse. Furthermore, from Petain and Amable Massis Proust gleaned information about the street cries of Paris for "La Prisonniere. In any event we know how Proust listened to music thanks to the memoirs of two of the musicians in the quartet, Gaston Poulet and Massis.

According to Poulet, one evening in 1916, at about eleven o'clock, a stranger rang the bell: "I am Marcel Proust, I am tormented by the desire to hear you play Cesar Franck's quartet." He offered to go and collect the other three musicians by car (Massis last); at one o'clock in the morning they all went back to the Boulevard Haussmann by car. Proust stretched out on the divan in his bedroom. When the quartet had finished, he asked them to play the piece again. Four taxis delivered the musicians to their homes. He asked them back on several occasions so that he could hear Mozart, Ravel, Schumann, and above all Faure and Franck. "He was familiar with everything. Faure was the composer most in tune with his sensibilities." But very often he asked them to play the third movement of Franck's violin sonata for him again, and Beethoven's last quartets. "For us Marcel Proust was a marvellous listener, straightforward, direct, a man who drank in music without raising any questions ... And, conversely, we could sense the reverberations of his style within him."

According to Massis, during the interval at one of his concerts, a man came to look for him and invited him to come and play at his home one evening in the near future. At twelve o'clock one night, the bell rang, and Proust asked the viola player to gather his friends together. They went downstairs to Odilon Albaret's motor car which had a vast eiderdown inside; on the folding seat was a soup tureen containing mashed potatoes. Odilon indicated, with a gesture, that "his employer was a little bizzare but not dangerous"; they went to collect the three others. Back in his bedroom, Marcel lay down in the darkness. Franck's quartet was played; not a sound, nor a movement from the writer. He asked to play it again. He gave each of the musicians 150 francs. A few weeks later, it was Faure's piano quartet, with an encore. For all that, he did not forget Reynaldo Hahn, whose new opera, "Nausicaa," he went to hear performed at Versailles in May, in the company of Henri Bardac. But in 1918 Proust would say that his thirst for music was "quenched somewhat" which shows that he had finished with the music in "La Prisonniere"), and he complained about the ingratitude of Massis, for which he had done "some truly considerable things" and who had never got in touch with him again; on the other hand, he still saw that "very nice viola player, young Petain".

nigelc...@gmail.com

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Mar 19, 2015, 12:44:54 PM3/19/15

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But performances apart - is the piece itself actually any good ?

CF could be a little turgid on a bad day.

Steve Emerson

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Mar 19, 2015, 1:55:03 PM3/19/15

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In article <fca12799-b246-45af...@googlegroups.com>,

nigelc...@gmail.com wrote:

> But performances apart - is the piece itself actually any good ?
>
> CF could be a little turgid on a bad day.

True -- and if that's a bad day, then they're the only kind he had. The
piece is excessive, inflated, over the top -- a quintessential romantic
work. I love it. I don't want to hear it very often.

Companion works, all of which I love too: Rachmaninoff's piano trios,
Taneyev's piano quintet, the Tchaikovsky trio, which is a model of good
taste by comparison with the rest (and only by that comparison). All
Russian, hmm. The Franck violin sonata, beloved of Proust, of course is
also in there.

SE.

Christopher Webber

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Mar 19, 2015, 2:51:13 PM3/19/15

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On 19/03/2015 18:47, Steve Emerson wrote:
> I love it. I don't want to hear it very often.

Well put! But when one is in the mood for Franck, nothing else will do.

I've become very fond of his harmonium works. Not just the famous,
desperately haunting 'Prelude, Fugue and Variation' (in 5+4/8) for
harmonium and piano, but the various suites of short pieces in different
keys: he'd intended to make a harmonium equivalent to Bach's 48, but
only finished eight sets.

I recommend this, complete recording of the harmonium music on Ricercar.
It's a keeper, for when anyone in that dark-mahogany, Franck mood:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Franck-Integrale-Harmonium-Joris-Verdin/dp/B00006L73J

cooper...@gmail.com

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Mar 19, 2015, 3:55:44 PM3/19/15

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Harmonium! I'm game. I adore Dvorak op. 47, and the Franck may be "famous" but it's new to me. Any other recommendations?

AC

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Mar 20, 2015, 6:10:03 AM3/20/15

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It is somewhat overblown but still quite impressive partly because with the cyclical connection of themes it does not simply meander around. (As I wrote I once attended a concert where the andante from Brahms' quintet was played as encore after the Franck and Brahms suddenly sounded like Haydn: lean and lithe.)
Of the Franck pieces I know I only prefer the violin sonata.

Al Eisner

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Mar 20, 2015, 3:43:48 PM3/20/15

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You would really put Franck's sonata in the same category as his
quintet? I've always liked a rather classical approach to the
former, which I think works very well. (Although I recently
attended a rather over-the-top romantic performance by Capucon
and Buniashtivili, which I thought was great fun to hear.)
--
Al Eisner

Steve Emerson

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Mar 21, 2015, 3:20:04 PM3/21/15

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In article
<alpine.LRH.2.00.1...@iris03.slac.stanford.edu>,

I would, but I guess if I listened more often to things like Chung/Lupu,
I might not. The Oistrakh/Richter performance, like a number of others,
pulls out all the stops.

SE.

Al Eisner

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Mar 21, 2015, 11:10:10 PM3/21/15

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I'm pretty sure I haven't heard Oistrakh/Richter, although it seems
like an obvious thing to have heard! My favorite so far has been
a 1930's performance by Heifetz and Rubinstein.
--
Al Eisner

dk

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Mar 22, 2015, 2:33:46 AM3/22/15

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On Thursday, March 19, 2015 at 11:51:13 AM UTC-7, Christopher Webber wrote:
> On 19/03/2015 18:47, Steve Emerson wrote:
> > I love it. I don't want to hear it very often.
>
> Well put! But when one is in the mood for Franck, nothing else will do.

Not even Prozac.

dk

hvid...@gmail.com

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Mar 23, 2015, 6:48:04 PM3/23/15

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Right, with the Prozak Quartet. Oh wait it's Prazak,different remedy.

HV