Eduard Franck String Quintets

[Mark Thomas]

jpc are advertising an SACD from Audite featuring two String Quintets from Eduard Frank (1817-1893): opp.15 and 51. It will be available in January and what details there are (no audio extracts yet) are here.

[Alan Howe]

Oh well spotted, Mark! Straight onto my wish-list...

[eschiss1]

Glad these CDs are being produced- the little chamber music of his I've heard so far is very good.

[Alan Howe]

Try the excerpts now available at jpc....
http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/Eduard-Franck-1817-1893-Streichquintette-opp-15-51/hnum/4917834
...lovely!

[Mark Thomas]

My order is in ... and has been for some time.

[Alan Howe]

MDT are now advertising it as a January release...
http://www.mdt.co.uk/MDTSite/product/AUDITE92578.htm

[Mark Thomas]

Well, typical of Herr Franck's compositions, these two works turn out to be extremely well-made, serious, civilised but ultimately undemanding compositions in a Mendelssohnian idiom. I guess that I could be accused of damning with faint praise, but one doesn't want to listen to masterworks all the time and, whilst they are far from being vacuous,  these Quintets are ideal when one wants more enjoyment than challenge. Although separated by around thirty years, according to the insert note, Franck's style doesn't progress much between the two. It's fair to say that the second Quintet, which comes from the 1870s, is the weightier and more turbulent of the two and it also has a rather fine variations finale, which at first listen I thought to be the best of the eight movements offered on the CD. If you have heard any of Franck's music before you'll know what you're getting...