119 Wilhelm Furtwängler: Piano Quintet in C major

Description

“Wilhelm Furtwängler was not only a great conductor, but also an enthusiastic composer. His music followed the line Beethoven-Brahms and has colossal dimensions. The piano quintet has the length of a Bruckner Symphony. It is a late-romantic, highly expressive music of great depth. The Clarens Quintet’s performance is outstanding, as is the quality of the recording, now available on Blu Ray Audio in Tacet’s Real Surround.” pizzicato

“′There won’t be many people who can cope with this catastrophe music′, the teacher said to the student, referring to his Piano Quintet of 1934. ′I am a tragedian after all′, replied the student, none other than the conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler. He had spent two decades polishing the quartet without ever dismissing it as ′finished′.
The Clarens Quintet has now dared to do so, and the result is anything but tragic. With verve, heart and mind, the musicians manage to tame the highly emotional and formidable work (80 minutes long!) without losing any of its intensity.” (Classix)

Audiosample (mp3, stereo)