Hurwitz lauds Raff...

[Alan Howe]

...in the form of the composer's great Piano Quintet:

Major Discoveries: Raff Chamber Works (No Kidding)

Raff's Piano Quintet was considered by Hans von Bülow to be one of the very greatest works in its medium, and he wasn't wrong. Generously proportioned (37 minutes), expertly written, full of good tunes, and not a bit diffuse in its argument, it's surely one of the great Romantic chamber works.

http://www.classicstoday.com/classics-today-insider/

[Alan Howe]

...and this isn't even the best recording (that's on Divox)!!

[Mark Thomas]

Oh yes, Hurwitz is both right and wrong. His assessment of the quality of the music is spot on, his judgement of the performance entirely misplaced. As Alan writes, the recording to get is that by Il Trittico on Divox, without a doubt. See here and here.

[adriano]

Not forgetting, as you know, Mark and Alan, that the world premier recording of Raff's Quintet was, in 1977, an LP by Adriano Productions :-)

[Mark Thomas]

Indeed, and not only was it the world premier recording, Hadrianus, it was a greatly superior performance to the one by Ensemble Villa Musica praised by Hurwitz!

[adriano]

Mark, now I am really blushing; but since I have some old rancunes towards Hurwitz (remember how he judged the music (gratefully not the interpretation) of my Mario Pilati CD on Inedita?) I chuckle :-).
The Divox Quintet version is super, I think.
This afternoon I listend to my private transfer of Cooper's version of Raff's Piano Concerto - after many many years - what a wonderful and respectful recording!

[Amphissa]

To my surprise and delight, I actually had occasion to hear this fine quintet performed live some years ago. It was early May, 2006, during a return visit to NY city. Purely by chance, I heard about a performance scheduled at the Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church. The wonderful thing about a great city like NY or London is that there are many opportunities for musicians early in their career (as well as more experienced performers) to play music that interests them. It was a very pleasant evening out -- in the 60s and clear, with only a light breeze. The performance was by musicians I had never seen nor heard of, and I almost didn't go because it was not a particularly convenient location. But as it turned out, it was a fine performance.

This performance was an interesting contrast to the Trittico recording. The 3rd movement was played with a slower tempo, more gravity. The final movement was also played just a little slower. Of course, the audio was not as good as a studio recording, but I liked the performance. An MP3 of the performance did  make its way into the wild.

Eric, were you in NY at that time? Did you by chance attend this performance?

[Mark Thomas]

I went to the afternoon performance. See here. It was indeed a fine interpretation.

[Amphissa]

I had not seen your commentary on the Raff board, Mark. At that time, I had never heard the piece. It was only later, after obtaining the MP3 and then the Trittico recording that I appreciated the difference in approach taken in the performance. Shall I upload the MP3? To my knowledge, it has never been released commercially, but I cannot remember where I obtained it.

[Mark Thomas]

I had a copy of the recording too -  sent to me by the concert organisers. Unfortunately I have mislaid it, so I would be delighted if you could upload it.

[eschiss1]

Alas I've only gone to 3 Jupiter Symphony Chamber concerts so far, I think (well, that's alas and yay! - alas no more than 3, and yay 3!!- since they're wonderful, of themselves and by comparison with the standard issue that I, anyway, am used to...) - the first was Thuille (wind octet) with Schumann and Schubert works for piano quartet, the second was Mozart (oboe quartet), Krommer (flute quartet op.17, whose finale- only- I'd taped off the radio once- and listened to often- so yay for moments of somewhat unexpected familiarity...) - and lastly Dvorak string quartet in A-flat (sung only by our standards, in my honest opinion; I'm not sure how much of the audience was very familiar with it. Ok, I was/am, though even then. There's a moment in the finale that I sort of mistook for Shostakovich when I couldn't remember, a week before that, -who- it was by... eh, long story...) -- and lastly Baermann/Czerny/Beethoven-arranged-by-Ebers ... all 3 really good concerts, again, and chosen from, again, really good seasons (often with quite a few composers we've talked about here, though not limited to any one era or even avoiding any of them, especially, I think). Thumbs-up to them!

[Mark Thomas]

Thanks for uploading the recording, Amphissa. Much appreciated.