COMPOSERS: Faure
LABELS: Hyperion
WORKS: Piano Quintets, Opp. 89 & 115
PERFORMER: Domus
CATALOGUE NO: CDA 66766 DDD
Much of Fauré’s late music inhabits a world of profound calm, with long arching melodies unfolding against smoothly rippling accompaniments, and an avoidance of violent contrasts. The Op. 115 Quintet, with its mercurial Scherzo and its melancholy slow movement, is an immediately attractive work; but its neglected predecessor yields up its secrets more slowly. First-rate performances by the now sadly disbanded Domus, and an admirably warm recording.
Misha Donat