This is how chamber music is meant to be played!

 

"Martha Argerich and Friends" or Lars Vogt's festival "Spannungen" (tensions) are the best examples for just how vibrant and direct chamber music can be and on what high level music can be made when one puts intellectuality aside to some degree and primarily embraces a communicative, spontaneous togetherness. The joy of making music is also what characterizes these recordings from the California Music@Menlo festival. Pianist Wu Han and her husband David Finckel (former cellist of the Emerson Quartet) initiated this festival together and serve as the artistic directors. Both of them are also among the performers of these two quintets by Ernö Dohnányi and Sergei Taneyev. Wu Han and her fellow performers Alexander Sitkovetsky, Nicolas Dautricourt (both in the Dohnányi quintet), Arnaud Sussmann, Sean Lee (both in the Taneyev quintet), violins, Paul Neubauer, viola, David Finckel, cello, offer extremely exciting and vibrating chamber music, fantastically played and rich in variety when it comes to dialogue, coloration and composition.

Whether in the Dohnányi or Taneyev quintet, the performances are highly musical and bear witness to superb communication within the ensemble and a musical joy that can be felt with every note. This is how chamber music is meant to be played.

There is a lot of communicative power in these outstanding live recordings from the Music@Menlo festival. The involved musicians offer extremely exciting and vibrating chamber music, fantastically played.

March 17, 2017