Academy of St.Martin-in-the-Fields - Svendsen: String Octet, Romance / Nielsen: String Quintet (1994)

While their playing is just a little bit on the scrappy side, it is still hard not to enjoy this recording by the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields Chamber Ensemble. Part of the reason is the players' innate beauty of tone. Part of the reason is the players' affection for the music. Part of the reason is the players' sheer joy in making music. And part of the reason is that the music is just so darned enjoyable. Johan Svendsen may be no Edvard Grieg, but he still mines the same deep vein of Scandinavian sentimental melody and his String Octet is as charming as any piece of chamber music this side of Schubert's Octet. Better yet is his Romance for violin and strings, a tender and touching love song played with surpassing ardor by soloist Kenneth Sillito. And best of all is Nielsen's String Quintet, a warm-hearted and wonderfully affecting work by Denmark's greatest composer given a gloriously robust and profoundly compassionate performance by members of the Academy. And if their playing is scrappy at times, their spontaneity more than makes up for it. Chandos' 1994 sound is rich and warm but with plenty of detail.