Trout Piano Quintet

Artur Schnabel, identified above all with the music of Beethoven, was also a supreme interpreter of Schubert. Initially trained in Vienna, he played a crucial role in advocating the Austrian composer’s piano music at a time when such masterworks as the late sonatas enjoyed surprisingly little currency. By the time he started making these recordings, in the early 1930s, Schnabel was already a mature artist, and their essential lyricism is complemented by his characteristic rhythmic vitality and intellectual rigour. Newly remastered from original sources, these historic interpretations now benefit from audio quality of unprecedented truth and immediacy.

Long recognized as the leading piano trio in a competitive field, the Beaux Arts Trio is known for precise, straightforward performances and recordings of everything in the standard Central European trio literature.
In concert, the group makes frequent forays into contemporary and non-mainstream music, but this is hardly evident in its conservative discography.

Yes, it sounds crazy to make yet another recording of Schubert's Trout Quintet a "reference recording", particularly given the number of really good ones already in circulation. Never mind. There is no finer performance available, and certainly none better recorded: gorgeous, perfectly natural sound whether in regular stereo or SACD surround-sound. So what makes this performance so special? First, and speaking generally, this has got to be one of the most shapely, elegant, and effortlessly flowing versions ever committed to disc.

This four-disc set provides listeners with a fantastic introduction to the Romantic piano quintet, showcasing lesser-known gems of the genre, alongside a few more recognisable offerings.

Schubert's quintet (which gets its name from his song "The Trout," used for a set of variations at its apex) is as lighthearted as it is melodious, qualities reflected in this excellent performance. The period-instrument balances are ideal; the fortepiano, less resonant than a modern piano, does not overpower the strings. The arpeggione was an odd, newly invented six-stringed instrument when Schubert wrote for it. The lovely sonata is here played on an obsolete five-stringed instrument, the violoncello piccolo–closer to the original than the modern cello or viola usually heard on recordings. The "Notturno" is a haunting movement, probably intended for a larger work.

This recording of Schubert's beloved "Trout" Quintet may not be not the greatest recording of the work ever made. How could it be? Chamber ensembles have been recording the "Trout" since the invention of recording and there are perhaps more great recordings of the piece in the catalogue than of any other chamber work. But the qualities that make for a great recording of the "Trout" are abundantly present in this recording, too, and anyone who loves the work will have to hear it.