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Many thanks.

I've tried to record each of the two recent broadcasts of Tristan, and in each case have encountered a technical hitch. Has anyone had better luck?

The CDs of Dietsch's Le Vaisseau fantôme were broadcast on Radio Stephansdom last night. It was better than I expected, though the skilful harmony and orchestration often cried out for better melodies. The dance tune at the end of the overture was jolly, and there was an impressive chorus towards the end of Act I. I couldn't work out the functions of Erik (tenor) and Magnus (baritone), though Magnus seemed to be Wagner's Erik. About 25 mins in there was an effective soprano-tenor duet (Minna and Erik?): effective because Dietsch's professionalism enabled him to triumph over a rather short-winded and trivial melody. A soprano-baritone duet later was also effective, and melodically better.

An interesting revival. There seemed to be some influence of early German romantic opera (I was occasionally reminded of Lindpaintner's Vampyr), and it wasn't quite like any other French composer of the period that I'm familiar with.

I have a complete recording with the Jugendorchester Bamberg conducted by Hermann Dechant. I've listened to it many times, though not recently, and I'm afraid that, between hearings, I've never been able to remember a single phrase.

The libretto that comes with the CDs contains a lot of dialogue. The music seems to me a rather laboured exercise in technique, which cannot be said of Hoffmann's writings. One detail. The libretto is by Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué, who wrote the original novella. In the libretto, but not in the novella, Huldbrand's death is described as a 'Liebestod'. Are there any earlier uses of this term?

Hummel A minor.

Apart from Ole Bull, I can't find any other composers of the Romantic period who were born on 5 February. A very substantial later composer is Grażyna Bacewicz (1909). Others, courtesy of Wikipedia, are

1534 – Giovanni de' Bardi
1594 – Biagio Marini
1748 – Christian Gottlob Neefe
1929 – Luc Ferrari

I've just noticed that, despite my attempts to stop it, iLivid downloaded the Draeseke quintet--as an .exe file. This wasn't flagged as suspicious when I did a general Malwarebytes scan, but when I searched my hard disk for the word 'iLivid' the quintet file came up. I individually scanned it with Malwarebytes and it was marked as suspicious.

iLivid's own website describes it as 'The ultimate downloader for Mediafire, FileServe, Hotfile and more'. It may be a one-way marriage, but iLivid does seem to have the ability to ambush the unwary as they use legitimate download sites.

I spoke too soon. I noticed that a separate iLivid window had appeared in connection with the Rubinstein download. It was this that had caused the trouble last time. Where does this come from? Is it a problem with my computer that attaches itself to the MediaFire site, or is it related to MediaFire?

I've just downloaded britishcomposer's recording of Rubinstein's Don Quixote. That was straightforward, without the invasive oddities that accompanied the Draeseke download. I cannot begin to think of an explanation. Thanks to everyone for their help and diligence.

When I attempted to download the quintet, something called iLivid Download Manager intervened. I've now Googled iLivid, and this does seem to be problematic.

Still, Malwarebytes has come to the rescue. Thanks to Mark and others for suggesting it. It will doubtless have further uses in future.

I think the octet's in B-flat major

You're right: B-dur. Sorry.

I tried to download this, but became suspicious of the extra goodies which were bundled with it, and went to the YouTube recording instead. Despite my stopping the download, one or two pieces of adware have installed themselves: jdj.openmace and the Bandoo Media Movies Toolbar. These may or may not be linked. Kaspersky Antivirus doesn't regard them as threats, but various sites on the Web do. If I try to uninstall the Movies Toolbar through Control Panel, I am directed to Bandoo Media's proprietary uninstallation program, of which I am naturally wary. Is any Draeseke fan also adept in removing malware?

BTW which Bruch string quintet?

The string quintet which I have is in A minor, and is for two violins, two violas, and cello. The other works on the CD are a quintet for piano and string quartet in G minor (1886) and a string octet in B major (1920).

It's good to see that he went on producing good music to the end, despite personal deprivation and tragedy.

I vote for Max Bruch's 1918 String Quintet, op. posth., which I have in a CD recording by the Ensemble Ulf Hoelscher. The music has a combination of strenuousness and lyrical beauty that suggests Brahms, both in overall effect and quality. The melodies are, however, very individual and sharply defined, and there is a compelling drive and structural unity, achieved out of very complex elements.

I'm grateful to this thread for introducing me to the Lachner and Draeseke quintets. The Lachner strikes me as a very superior piece of craftsmanship--no more, no less. I don't know quite what to make of the Draeseke (my first experience of this composer). It is very experimental for a contemporary of Brahms, but the individual musical ideas don't grab me at all and, after two hearings, I'm still finding the whole thing rather shapeless. Still, I must explore further.

The Bruch seems to me to win hands down, and I urge others to try it.

I love The Merry Wives. There is some wonderful lyrical music, notably Fenton's 'Horch, die Lerche singt im Hain', and the Windsor Forest Scene is magical, and by no means obliterated by Verdi's later version. His second symphony, which I recorded from the radio decades ago, has never made much of an impression on me. I bought Il Templario as soon as it has been released. Parts sound like second-drawer Donizetti, but I agree that it has strong moments and was well worthy of revival--as is Marschner's Der Templer und die Judin, which I think still awaits a modern professional recording.