Bath Compact Discs

Taneyev & Arensky: Piano Quintets

A marvellous new recording from Hyperion of Russian chamber music. The two composers featured came from the same stable, but were poles apart in many respects. The stable in question was the Moscow Conservatoire, and the composers: Taneyev and Arensky. Both of them form an interesting link between the composers of the generation before (the brothers Rubinstein, Rimsky-Korsakov and Tchaikovsky) and after (Rachmaninov and Scriabin).

Listening to the G minor Piano Quintet on this new disc, I can see why Taneyev has been dubbed the ‘Russian Brahms’. It certainly has the heady mix of swagger and counterpoint associated with the German master, and is also music that is brilliantly constructed. It has a dense texture, the music working through the motivic relationships in a tight structure, again much like Brahms. It treads the line between spontaneity and academia. Reading the liner notes I came away with the impression that Taneyev did not lack self confidence in his abilities - his teacher, none other than one Piotr Tchaikovsky, had to put up with his star pupil advising him on rewriting the variation section of his great Piano Trio in A minor!

By contrast, the Arensky Piano Quintet certainly sounds far more rhapsodic than the taut structure of the Taneyev quintet. Where Taneyev is constantly developing, Arensky writes with a more open, jovial feel; there is more space to breath in this music. You might say it is an ideal foil to the work of Taneyev. Indeed I think these two works perfectly demonstrate their respective approach to composition.

The recording by the Goldner String Quartet and Piers Lane is quite exceptional, but then again based on their previous productions on the Hyperion label I was expecting great things. This is really worth buying !! Get it !!!

P.S. Congratulations to Hyperion for a wonderful choice of artwork ('Vasilisa the Beautiful' from Russian Fairy Tales (1899) by Ivan Bilibin). Icing on an already delicious cake I think.