Louise Farrenc & Camille Saint-Saëns: Romantic Dreams - Quintets For Piano And Strings

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Be  transported  back in  time to the salons  of 19th-century Paris by one of Australia's finest historically inspired ensembles.Acclaimed  period-instrument ensemble Ironwood revive the sounds of the French Romantic through  works by Louise Farrencand Camille  Saint-Saëns. 

These  wonderful  piano  quintets provide contrasting glimpses of the rapidly changing  tastes of  mid-19th-century Paris, from the Schubertian  Classicism in Farrenc'spiece  to Saint-Saëns' incredible  work that seems  to move from the  Baroque  to Blondie  (yes,  really!) via  cabaret  and the  shimmering sounds of  early  Hollywood.

Ironwood's novel interpretation of these works reflects the ensemble's research into historical performance practices, informed  by very early  acoustic,  electrical  and  piano roll recordings –including some by Saint-Saëns  himself –and by contemporaneous  written texts by French  and Belgian  musicians. 

Through  this research,  coupled  with the  sounds of gut-strung stringed instruments and an original Érardconcert  grand piano  from 1869, this recording re-imagines the expressive  sound world  that these  composers envisaged  for their sumptuous  music.

TRACKLIST:

LOUISE FARRENC 1804–1875
Quintet for piano and strings No. 1 in A minor, Op. 30
1 I. Allegro
2 II. Adagio non troppo
3 III. Scherzo (Presto)
4 IV. Finale (Allegro)

CAMILLE SAINT-SAËNS 1835–1921
Quintet for piano and strings in A minor, Op. 14
5 I. Allegro moderato e maestoso
6 II. Andante sostenuto
7 III. Presto
8 IV. Allegro assai, ma tranquillo