Dave's Faves No.. 82 (Schubert)

Schubert: "Trout" Quintet. Serkin, Laredo, Levine, etc (Sony)

[MegaVicar]

Ha! I just got on YT with the intention of watching a performance of the’Trout Quintet’ and this pos up. Great minds...

[stevenmsinger]

The Trout Quintet is one of my favorite pieces of music - ever. You picked a really good one here. So beautifully done and relaxed and fun. However, my go to is the superstar version with Yo-Yo Ma, Emanuel Ax, Pamela Frank, Edger Meyer and Rebecca Young. It conveys even more a sense of joy in the music and is better recorded. Plus it comes with a version of The Trout song by Barbara Bonney and a jaw dropping Arpeggione Sonata.

[Plantagenet]

I like this line up. I have similar, with their Brahms PQs.

[ruramikael]

Schubert was inspired by Hummel's somewhat darker piano quintet.

[johnmontanari]

This performance is very high on my list of faves as well. I got to know Philipp Naegele very well from his years teaching at Smith College. Oh, did we have some tussles, especially over my radio play of Respighi, Rodrigo and especially Poulenc, all of whom he absolutely despised. (One day he asked me what was the Violin Concerto I had played that morning. I said it was Philip Glass. He replied "s*** -- it was beautiful.") But he regaled me with stories about Szell (he had played in the Cleveland), Sekin (whom he admired boundlessly) and other giants. I miss the old guy, and delight in hearing him in such distinguished company.

[OuterGalaxyLounge]

I want to listen, Dave, but I get mesmerized by the holdings in the overflow room.

[richardfrankel]

What a sparkling, singing performance! It was considered quite "modern" in its day: never just ambling along, singing sweetly to itself.

A neighbor of mine related this story: he'd been in school with Peter Serkin, and one summer Peter invited him up to Marlboro for the weekend. Naturally they stopped in to see Peter's dad, and Rudolf greeted his son with, "I heard your new recording of the Trout Quintet."
Peter: "Oh?"
Rudolf: "it reminded me of the Schubert I heard in Vienna when I was young."
Peter: "Oh."
Rudolf: "I HATE Viennese Schubert!"

But that Peter Serkin recording of the Trout Qnt. is one of the great ones. It's with Sasha Schneider (of the Budapest Qt.), Michael Tree and David Soyer (of the Guerneville Qt.), and...Julius Levine. And it's glorious.

I was lucky enough to see a wonderful performance with Richard Goode, Josef Suk, Walter Trampler, Leslie Parnas, and the ubiquitous Julius Levine. In fact, that whole concert (Chamber Music Society Of Lincoln Center) was about as good as it gets. It opened with the Janacek Sonata (Suk and Goode), then Barry Tuckwell joined them for the Brahms Horn Trio; and after intermission came the Trout Quintet. Not bad, huh? (I drove from Baltimore to New York for that concert, and allI can say is that it was worth every minute I spent on the Jersey Turnpike!)

[geertdecoster]

Can't anyone pinch me? Is this a real experience? So many great talks, recordings and commentaries! Just that. Not used to it.

[rudilindner]

Yes, thank you. The cello part is a joy to play. Do you plan to discuss the last piano sonata, D960? As I get older, the late Schubert appeals to me greatly. I suppose that’s because I am the last of the Habsburg Jews.

[loathecliff]

Hagen/Schiff for me, but only just. So exquisite; but we are so spoilt compared to fifty years ago.

[davidaiken]

Your ringing endorsement of this wonderful Trout Quintet reminds me that we really need a Marlboro Festival Box and/or a Casals Festival(s) Box from Sony. I won't hold my breath, but hope springs eternal.

[powerliftingcentaur]

David, I found this video so compelling and educational I immediately looked for the recording on my streaming service and listened. This is strange to say, but it was the first time I have ever listened to the quintet.

I have been gifted with the ability to listen to much experimental music and feel at home with it (though I have to say that when I could experience the first movement of Schoenberg’s violin concerto I became alarmed and wondered what was wrong with me). The price for that gift has been an indifference to so much of the standard repertoire. Schubert, for instance, meant nothing to me.

Until, one day, listening to some of his songs, I realized I was just being stupid. I have tried to make amends, today, for instance. I listened to the first two movements of this quintet dutifully, and thought…well…I shall have to try again someday. But then popped that scherzo! Presto, indeed. And then those variations on a theme of such happiness. Everything topped by that cherry of a finale. It all felt like a romp through heaven while sitting with coffee on earth.

Tipping my cup to you, David. Thank you.

[alanwittert]

How GRAND it'd be if SONY re-issued more from the Marlboro Festival, 1960-73. I adore Casals conducting Schubert's 5th and Mendelssohn's Italian symphony; also scrappy but exuberant Beethoven 4, 6 and 7, Mozart, over-the-top Brandenburgs, etc.  
Oh my, re-issue gods, hear my plea! The orchestra had the most brilliant of players: e.g., Shmuel Ashkenazi, players who went on to the Julliard and Guarneri Quartets and major symphony orchestras. The recordings exude youthfulness and promise and joy!

[arthurgoodman]

I own this fine recording, but I'm still partial to the mellow, vintage Goldberg, Primrose, Graudan, Babin, Sankey version on RCA Victor Red Seal. You can find part of it on YouTube, with a whopping 221 hits.

[marknewkirk]

I think the Prokofiev Quintet for oboe, clarinet, violin, viola, and contrabass is the only piece of chamber music I've ever played with a contrabass part that is truly independent and co-equal. The fourth movement, Adagio pesante, may well be the ugliest piece of music I've ever heard.

[michelangelomulieri]

I rather prefer, always from Marlboro, the version with pamela frank, Emanuel ax, jaime Laredo and others. Is more spontaneous and with a more equal interplay