Johann Nepomuk Hummel – Franz Schubert : Quintettes avec piano

   in Early Music Today (Jun, 2014)
Recorded at Finchcocks on the splendid six-octave Viennese piano by Johann Fritz of c1814, this recording from The Music Collection pairs Schubert’s ever- popular ‘Trout’ quintet with a rather lesser-known work by Hummel for exactly the same combination of piano, violin, viola, cello and bass, and which has sometimes been considered an inspiration for Schubert’s quintet (though Hummel’s own arrangement of his Op. 74 Septet as a quintet is perhaps a more plausible influence). Finchcocks is an ideal space for such music, yet overall, one could wish for greater clarity of recorded sound on this disc.

The tersely argumentative opening of Hummel’s E flat minor quintet suffers significantly from the rather …