Quartetto Savinio & Matteo Fossi - Schumann: Complete Piano Trios, Complete String Quartets, Fantasiestücke, Op. 88 (2016)

Tracklist
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01. String Quartet No. 1 in A Minor, Op. 41: I. Introduzione. Andante espressivo-Allegro
02. String Quartet No. 1 in A Minor, Op. 41: II. Scherzo. Presto
03. String Quartet No. 1 in A Minor, Op. 41: III. Adagio
04. String Quartet No. 1 in A Minor, Op. 41: IV. Presto
05. String Quartet No. 3 in A Major, Op. 41: I. Andante espressivo-Allegro molto moderato
06. String Quartet No. 3 in A Major, Op. 41: II. Assai agitato
07. String Quartet No. 3 in A Major, Op. 41: III. Adagio molto
08. String Quartet No. 3 in A Major, Op. 41: IV. Finale. Allegro molto vivace
09. String Quartet No. 2 in F Major, Op. 41: I. Allegro vivace
10. String Quartet No. 2 in F Major, Op. 41: II. Andante, quasi variazioni
11. String Quartet No. 2 in F Major, Op. 41: III. Scherzo. Presto
12. String Quartet No. 2 in F Major, Op. 41: IV. Allegro molto vivace
13. Piano Trio No. 2 in F Major, Op. 80: I. Sehr Lebhaft
14. Piano Trio No. 2 in F Major, Op. 80: II. Mit innigem Ausdruck
15. Piano Trio No. 2 in F Major, Op. 80: III. In mässiger Bewegung
16. Piano Trio No. 2 in F Major, Op. 80: IV. Nicht zu rasch
17. Fantasiestücke in A Minor, Op. 88: I. Romanze. Nicht schnell, mit innigem Ausdruck
18. Fantasiestücke in A Minor, Op. 88: II. Humoreske. Lebhaft
19. Fantasiestücke in A Minor, Op. 88: III. Duett. Langsam und mit Ausdruck
20. Fantasiestücke in A Minor, Op. 88: IV. Finale. In Marsch-Tempo
21. Piano Trio No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 63: I. Mit Energie und Leidenschaft
22. Piano Trio No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 63: II. Lebhaft, doch nicht zu rasch
23. Piano Trio No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 63: III. Langsam, mit inniger Empfindung
24. Piano Trio No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 63: IV. Mit Feuer
25. Piano Trio No. 3 in G Minor, Op. 110: I. Bewegt, doch nicht zu rasch
26. Piano Trio No. 3 in G Minor, Op. 110: II. Ziemlich langsam-Etwas bewegter-Schneller-Erstes Tempo
27. Piano Trio No. 3 in G Minor, Op. 110: III. Rasch
28. Piano Trio No. 3 in G Minor, Op. 110: IV. Kräftig, mit Humor

Schumann composed his three string quartets and the Fantasiestücke Op.88 in his ‘chamber music year’ of 1842, while preparing for the two oratorios which he regarded as his greatest work in any medium, Paradise and the Peri (1843) and the Scenes from Goethe’s Faust, which preoccupied him on and off for the next decade. Posterity has however been less kind to these large-scale summations than the song cycles and chamber works, such as those recorded here, in which the composer’s obsessive reworking of small motifs finds consistently impassioned expression.

As befits their place within the canon of the genre, the string quartets are often densely and contrapuntally worked, whereas the piano-trio Fantasiestücke are more characteristic of Schumann the lyric poet, whether for voice or instruments. These four pieces are cast as a sonata manqué, with a soulful prelude, lively Scherzo, yearning duet for the two string instruments and combative finale. They have not received the attention they deserve from either performers or listeners, but they are fully the equal of the three piano trios proper in which, according to Alfred Einstein, can best be heard the composer’s self-declared dual nature as both Florestan and Eusebius, impetuous man of action and melancholy dreamer. Joy and exuberance are their keynotes.

The Quartetto Savinio has been acclaimed by a native critic as the ‘true heir to the Quartetto Italiano’, and its musicians were coached by the violist of that ensemble, Piero Farulli. With an all-Italian line-up, the quartet has worked with many contemporary composers from their own country, and won both awards and critical praise for a previous recording of the string quartets by Luigi Cherubini: it is an Italian ensemble through and through. The Florentine pianist Matteo Fossi has recorded for Decca (including much of Brahms’s two-piano repertoire with his regular duet partner, Marco Gaggini) and Brilliant Classics, notably the piano quartets of Schumann with Quartetto Klimt (95012BR).