Hiller Piano Quartet No.3 Op.133 & Piano Quintet Op.156

[Alan Howe]

...featuring that great advocate and performer of unsung repertoire, pianist Oliver Triendl!
https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/cpo/detail/-/art/ferdinand-hiller-klavierquartett/hnum/9730024

[Mark Thomas]

Yes, the man's a marvel. This is a very appealing release.

[izdawiz]

wOot Woot Bring it on.. Looking forward to it

[Gareth Vaughan]

I think (I certainly HOPE) that we may find this release contains some of Hiller's best music.

[britishcomposer]

Both works/recordings are in our downloads archive kindly uploaded by Jerry in 2011. (German music folder).
The link should perhaps be removed

[eschiss1]

I remember those recordings. I liked them alot (and the music on'em) and wish their commercial release all the best! They really are Hiller in fine form.

[Mark Thomas]

Both works/recordings are in our downloads archive kindly uploaded by Jerry in 2011. (German music folder).
The link should perhaps be removed

I've deleted the posts. Thanks for the reminder.

[Alan Howe]

The CD has arrived and I can confirm that the Piano Quintet is an absolutely wonderful work, although I'm glad I'm not a string-player, especially in the finale. Nevertheless, this is both melodically engaging and rhythmically exciting throughout.

I don't expect this release will sell in huge numbers. It absolutely ought to, though.

[John Boyer]

I concur with Alan's assessment.  Both works are solidly crafted.  I listened to them last week and again today, finding my enjoyment grew upon re-hearing them.  They earn an easy recommendation for anyone who likes mid-19th century German chamber music.

[eschiss1]

btw there was another recording of the quintet in 2015, coupled with Robert Schumann. Wonder how they compare...

[John Boyer]

btw there was another recording of the quintet in 2015, coupled with Robert Schumann. Wonder how they compare...

Well, I'm sure most would find the Schumann much better.  😉

[John Boyer]

I have been listening to these again the past few days and wondered what the critical opinion of the release was. I found reviews in the Grammophone and Music Web International.  To my surprise, the opinions expressed were the opposite of what I expected. I had assumed that, encountering unfamiliar music, the Grammophone (which Siri insists on rendering as "grammar phone" or "grandma phone") would be negative while Music Web International would be more accepting. Instead, the Grammophone published a positive review that pointed out the many felicities of these two works, while Music Web International was unequivocally negative. You never know.

[Ilja]

I took the trouble to re-read that review, and I can't say I'm particularly impressed. I'm not complaining about the reviewer's opinion (with which I don't even entirely disagree), but rather about the way he writes it down. Sentences such as "I don't intend to discuss the two pieces individually, as they are very much peas in a pod" suggest a certain laziness, and the rest of the review is similarly infuriatingly uninformative about the music. Unfortunately this is something I've noticed more often in MusicWeb reviews; it seems that they don't have a very stringent editorial statute.