Franz Schmidt - Clarinet Quintet in A major (Various Artists)

Information

Composer: Franz Schmidt

1. Clarinet Quintet in A major: I. Allegro moderato
2. Clarinet Quintet in A major: II. Intermezzo
3. Clarinet Quintet in A major: III. Scherzo: Trio
4. Clarinet Quintet in A major: IV. Adagio
5. Clarinet Quintet in A major: V. Variations on a Theme of Josef Labor: Allegretto grazioso

Aladár Jánoška, clarinet

Stanislav Mucha, violin

Alexander Lakatoš, viola

Ján Slavík, cello

Daniela Ruso, piano

Date: 1991

Label: Marco Polo

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Review

Schmidt's A major Quintet for clarinet, piano and strings is an original and thoughtful work in five movements, one of which is for piano alone. No doubt the fact that it was written with the left-handed Paul Wittgenstein in mind accounts for the latter. The piano part was subsequently re-arranged by Friedrich Wuhrer for both hands, in which form it is recorded here. In all it takes about an hour and is seldom if ever encountered in the concert hall, though its finale, a set of variations on a theme by Josef Labor, is occasionally played on its own. (Indeed, on their Decca LP of the G major Piano Quintet, the Vienna Philharmonia Quartet with Eduard Mrazek recorded it as a fill-up—5/76, nla). The work has a fantasy and nobility that recalls such figures as Elgar and Suk, and there is a strong debt to Reger. The fourth movement even suggests late Brahms.

The Quintet appeared some years ago in a very good performance by the Vienna Kammermusiker from Preiser (dating from 1984), but this newcomer by Slovak artists is not its inferior either as a performance or recording. The clarinettist, Aladar Janowska may not always be quite as imaginative as Christoph Eberle on Preiser, but there is not a great deal to choose between them and the Slovaks have the benefit of fresher recorded sound. Both versions are too closely balanced to be ideal and the piano looms larger in the aural picture in the slow movement (not sustaining the illusion of a complete performance). Though there is not quite enough back-to-front perspective, too much should not be made of this; the players are sensitive and the recording more than serviceable. Recommended in preference to the Viennese account listed above.

— Robert Layton

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Franz Schmidt (22 December 1874 – 11 February 1939) was an Austro-Hungarian composer. A piano student of Theodor Leschetizky and a composition pupil of Anton Bruckner, he began his career as a cellist with the Vienna Court Opera, where he experienced professional tensions with Gustav Mahler. Schmidt later taught composition at the Vienna Staatsakademie and served as director of the Musikhochschule (1927–31). His music, sometimes compared to Max Reger, includes the opera Notre Dame, the oratorio Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln, four symphonies, left-hand works for Paul Wittgenstein, and organ works.

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