Faure: Piano Quintet No. 1 in D minor, Op. 89; Piano Quintet No. 2 in C minor, Op. 115; String Quartet No. 1 in C minor, Op. 15; String Quartet No. 2 in G minor, Op. 45; String Quartet in E minor, Op. 121; Trio in D minor, Op. 120

COMPOSERS: Faure
LABELS: Erato
WORKS: Piano Quintet No. 1 in D minor, Op. 89; Piano Quintet No. 2 in C minor, Op. 115; String Quartet No. 1 in C minor, Op. 15; String Quartet No. 2 in G minor, Op. 45; String Quartet in E minor, Op. 121; Trio in D minor, Op. 120
PERFORMER: Jean Hubeau (piano), Raymond Gallois-Montbrun (violin), Colette Lequien (viola), André Navarra (cello); Quartet Via Nova
CATALOGUE NO: 4509-96953-2 ADD (1971/70)

An attractive and intelligently annotated set, devoted to Fauré’s chamber music with piano; the sole drawback concerns generally astringent sound quality in these 1969/70 recordings. Pianist Jean Hubeau features in all but one of these performances. An uncommonly perceptive, adroit, and lucidly compelling artist, his readings of the large-scale piano quintets, Opp. 89 and 115, are superb. He is partnered by the Quatuor Via Nova, who contribute their own serenely idiomatic account of Fauré’s three-movement string quartet, Op. 121. Hubeau’s impressively understated pianism adds distinction to refined performances of the piano quartets, Opp. 15 and 45, and the particularly fine D minor Trio, Op. 120. Performances are of uniform excellence; soundwise, there’s still a measure of disappointment here. Michael Jameson