Amazon.co.uk allows you to pay for your items in your local currency. Restrictions apply. Learn More. |
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
Track Listings
| 1. Piano Quintet in G minor |
| 2. Piano Quintet in D minor, H49a |
Product Description
Review
British music from the first decades of the 20th century in lively performances. --Gramophone,Jan'11
This is an important release,especially for the Bax. Performance ***** Recording **** --BBC Music Magazine,Christmas'10
It's certainly the piece that brings out the best of pianist Ashley Wass and the Tippett Quartet,for they attack Bax's Huge,teeming first movement with gung-ho intensity that sweeps all before it,and which they sustain right through the work. *** --The Guardian,17/12/10
Naxos has turned up a number of jewels in its English chamber series.These piano quintets may not top anyone's list, but Wass and Tippett's make an impassioned case. Bax alternates poignant folksong melodies and surging chromatic flourishes.Bridge argues his case with decorus charm and subtle spirit.Worth investigating. **** --Financial Times,13/11/10
This is an important release,especially for the Bax. Performance ***** Recording **** --BBC Music Magazine,Christmas'10
It's certainly the piece that brings out the best of pianist Ashley Wass and the Tippett Quartet,for they attack Bax's Huge,teeming first movement with gung-ho intensity that sweeps all before it,and which they sustain right through the work. *** --The Guardian,17/12/10
Naxos has turned up a number of jewels in its English chamber series.These piano quintets may not top anyone's list, but Wass and Tippett's make an impassioned case. Bax alternates poignant folksong melodies and surging chromatic flourishes.Bridge argues his case with decorus charm and subtle spirit.Worth investigating. **** --Financial Times,13/11/10
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
The Bax Piano Quintet is the most symphonic and largest scale piece of chamber music he wrote. Dating from 1914-15 it is one of the early peaks of his writing written during his early passion for pianist Harriet Cohen. To say it is a turbulent stormy surgingly romantic work is an understatement. Fine in many ways though the only earlier recording was (Mistry Quartet/David Owen Norris) was this performance is infinitely finer. Pianist Waas and the Tippett Quartet hurl themselves onto the great rocks of this work in a performance as epic and muscular as it is exciting and convincing. Its a no hold barred approach that is totally compelling. These are artists on top form technically but willing to teeter on the edge of collapse in the cause of the music - fine production and engineering from Michael Ponder - no mean viola player himself.
Bax remains one of my all-time favourite composers but I have to say I think Frank Bridge is more consistent and ultimately more challenging. This Piano Quintet I had not heard before. An excellent coupling its emotional landscape is subtler and less overtly dramatic than the Bax. But as always with Bridge there is so much going on below the surface. He is a composer who changed greatly in the course of his compositional life and you can hear both extremes of this here. But at the same time there is much which is simply beautiful. Waas has proved to be a staunch advocate of the solo piano works of both these composers so he is fully inside the idiom. There are other versions by fine artists of the Bridge but having not heard them I cannot comment. On this showing the Tippetts are a quartet to watch - a high point in Naxos' already fine catalogue of English chamber music.
Bax remains one of my all-time favourite composers but I have to say I think Frank Bridge is more consistent and ultimately more challenging. This Piano Quintet I had not heard before. An excellent coupling its emotional landscape is subtler and less overtly dramatic than the Bax. But as always with Bridge there is so much going on below the surface. He is a composer who changed greatly in the course of his compositional life and you can hear both extremes of this here. But at the same time there is much which is simply beautiful. Waas has proved to be a staunch advocate of the solo piano works of both these composers so he is fully inside the idiom. There are other versions by fine artists of the Bridge but having not heard them I cannot comment. On this showing the Tippetts are a quartet to watch - a high point in Naxos' already fine catalogue of English chamber music.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
3 reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
first rate--another standout Naxos release
15 Mar 2011
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
I was actually taken aback at how much I enjoyed this CD. Oh, I was expecting to enjoy it and all, but it really bowled me over. The renditions here are incredibly well played, and the pieces entirely representative of the early phases of Bax's and Bridge's respective composing careers. A great release by Naxos. Highly recommended.
The Bax quintet (the more challenging--but rewarding--of the two) catches the composer in full celtic cry, in a composition that really feels more like a symphony packed into a quintet. Those who know and love his symphonies will find much to love here. I was particularly struck by the inventiveness of the musical language, particularly in the first movement.
The Bridge quintet is a lovely, late romantic chamber piece of the "phantasy" mold that he (and others such as Ireland) composed for musical competitions.
Hard to beat this quality for the price. btw Ashley Wass' recordings of the Bax violin sonatas (also on Naxos) are equally first rate.
The Bax quintet (the more challenging--but rewarding--of the two) catches the composer in full celtic cry, in a composition that really feels more like a symphony packed into a quintet. Those who know and love his symphonies will find much to love here. I was particularly struck by the inventiveness of the musical language, particularly in the first movement.
The Bridge quintet is a lovely, late romantic chamber piece of the "phantasy" mold that he (and others such as Ireland) composed for musical competitions.
Hard to beat this quality for the price. btw Ashley Wass' recordings of the Bax violin sonatas (also on Naxos) are equally first rate.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
worthy additions to the British chamber music catalogue
13 Dec 2010
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
The piano quintet of Arnold Bax is a highly regarded but infrequently recorded chamber work from the great English composer's "early maturity" (1914-15). Indeed, this new recording by Ashley Wass and the Tippett Quartet appears to be the first to come on the scene since a 1992 Chandos disc from David Norris and the Mistry Quartet (Bax: Piano Quintet / String Quartet 2) which I haven't heard. The music itself is outstanding, and given the revival of interest in Bax's chamber works it's nice to see this new recording at budget price from the very capable pianist Wass, even if it seems a bit of a mystery as to why this work has been neglected for so long. Pianist John McCabe in an interview with Robert Barnett, editor of the British Music Society Newsletter, called the Quintet "superb," but also said "I haven't played it - I looked at it once, but this is a case where the writing demands a bigger hand than mine, or that's the impression I got. (The same is true of the Bridge [Quintet], which is another marvelous piece I can't contemplate!)." In any case, it took me a couple of listens to really appreciate what Bax was up to here - the turbulent string parts in the first movement seemed almost off-putting at first - but the beauty of the second movement, the Celtic roots of which are a common thread in the works of Bax, caught me completely; and the third movement completed what is a final panel of a Baxian triptych.
The Bridge Piano Quintet is well represented in the catalogue, including what is supposed to be a fine recording by Piers Lane and the Goldner Quartet (Bridge: Piano Quintet, String Quartet No. 4, Three Idylls); however, familiar as I am with the chamber works from this composer, this one was new to me. The Quintet was composed 1904-05 and received its first performance in 1907, only to be withdrawn and rewritten by Bridge and then reintroduced in 1912. While I hesitate to make such comparisons, the Quintet is reminiscent in a certain way of Faure, but not at all derivative. The musical language is that of early Bridge, which is to say, Bridge before the Great War, the impact of which is evident in his later, and sometimes more astringent works.
The recorded sound is excellent - and I'm happy to see that Naxos has dispensed with the saccharin cover art adorning some of their earlier Bax and Bridge releases and instead has designed an atmospheric cover that's most compatible with the music inside. Warmly recommended.
The Bridge Piano Quintet is well represented in the catalogue, including what is supposed to be a fine recording by Piers Lane and the Goldner Quartet (Bridge: Piano Quintet, String Quartet No. 4, Three Idylls); however, familiar as I am with the chamber works from this composer, this one was new to me. The Quintet was composed 1904-05 and received its first performance in 1907, only to be withdrawn and rewritten by Bridge and then reintroduced in 1912. While I hesitate to make such comparisons, the Quintet is reminiscent in a certain way of Faure, but not at all derivative. The musical language is that of early Bridge, which is to say, Bridge before the Great War, the impact of which is evident in his later, and sometimes more astringent works.
The recorded sound is excellent - and I'm happy to see that Naxos has dispensed with the saccharin cover art adorning some of their earlier Bax and Bridge releases and instead has designed an atmospheric cover that's most compatible with the music inside. Warmly recommended.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
A real winner!
12 Dec 2010
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
If you know either of these composers and wish to expand your experience of their rarely-heard
music, you will want to get this recording. No reservations. Both works are representative
of these composers at their best and most idiomatic.
The performances are committed and full of the imagination these works require, especially the
very large-scaled Bax. And the recorded sound is up-front enough to get you into the music.
In every way, a superb issue of two little known piano quintets. Wass and the Tippett Quartet
once again reveal how fortunate we are to have so many outstanding chamber music groups exploring,
performing and recording repertoire which many of us rarely, if ever, have heard! In spite of
all the doomsday rhetoric, we are truly in a golden age for chamber music exploration right now.
Thanks, again, to Naxos, for being one of the innovative companies who encourage this with such
creative content, excellent artists and sound, and a reasonable price for the buyer/experiment!
music, you will want to get this recording. No reservations. Both works are representative
of these composers at their best and most idiomatic.
The performances are committed and full of the imagination these works require, especially the
very large-scaled Bax. And the recorded sound is up-front enough to get you into the music.
In every way, a superb issue of two little known piano quintets. Wass and the Tippett Quartet
once again reveal how fortunate we are to have so many outstanding chamber music groups exploring,
performing and recording repertoire which many of us rarely, if ever, have heard! In spite of
all the doomsday rhetoric, we are truly in a golden age for chamber music exploration right now.
Thanks, again, to Naxos, for being one of the innovative companies who encourage this with such
creative content, excellent artists and sound, and a reasonable price for the buyer/experiment!
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Listmania!
![NAXOS/ string Quartets [2]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51sAycZ%2BncL._AA60_.jpg)
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
