A performance of great integrity
Melos Ensemble Warner Classics 9185142
The bewildering array of available recordings of the Trout Quintet underscores its enduring popularity.
After a lifetime performing the Trout and hearing countless other performances and recordings myself, this concentrated burst of critical listening in search of a winner proved challenging but rewarding.
The Melos Ensemble, founded in 1950, dedicated itself to chamber music for larger, more unusual forces, and enjoyed an enviable international reputation. Its members all pursued complex careers as soloists, chamber and orchestral musicians, recitalists and pedagogues. It was this complexity, allied to a shared musical mission, that provided the foundation for their unparalleled rapport.
Their 1967 recording of the Trout Quintet, subsequently remastered and released again in 2011, exemplifies these unique ingredients that contributed to the ensemble’s prowess. In a performance that oozes integrity, the ensemble deftly sidesteps every potential musical and technical hazard to present a performance that respectfully illuminates the essence of Schubert’s effervescent composition.
While every aspect of the performance is meticulous, Lamar Crowson’s mastery of the piano part is especially enchanting. His magnificent exploitation of the upper register colour, perfect voicing, welljudged dynamics, delicate yet decisive execution of ornamentation, idiomatic sensitivity and symbiotic relationship with the rest of the ensemble are decisive factors in a performance that immediately challenges the listener to activate intense concentration and engage their deepest intellectual and emotional resources.
Although Crowson is undoubtedly a magician at the keyboard, violinist Emanuel Hurwitz, violist Cecil Aronowitz, cellist Terence Weil and double bassist Adrian Beers also represent the pinnacle of 20th-century British string playing.
This recording illuminates the essence of Schubert’s e ervescent composition
From the opulence of the arresting opening chord through to the very last note, Hurwitz plays with elegant virtuosity, and Beers’s rhythmic and harmonic framework is both imaginative and secure.
The second movement duet between Aronowitz and Weill is searingly beautiful, with their combined sound the most realistic representation of the human voice one is likely to hear. It is a masterclass in taste, with perfect balance between the parts and an elegant use of portamento and rubato. The performance overall is a powerful affirmation of the principles that constitute great musicianship.