This latest recording (ABC CLASSIC 481 9887) from historically informed performance ensemble Ironwood is a significant addition to the canon of HIP performance research and performance in both this country and globally.
Above : Ironwood on ABC Classic (481 9887) 2020.
It’s excellent preparation and execution sets about exploding uninform stereotypes of how to perform music leaning towards Romanticism . Its portrait of a certain swoop of French chamber music in chronological order on this recording is a very special trajectory to follow. The nineteeth century piano quintet works here unfold with a calm elegance, a secure sense of drama and colourful, irresistible charm.
Romantic Dreams begins with a warm ensemble gesturing in the work of Lousie Farrenc. It builds in scope as Ironwood’s intelligent and earnest musicians accurately present the Parisian contribution to chamber music from 1835 onwards with a clear directness. Continue reading IRONWOOD – FARRENC & SAINT-SAËNS : ROMANTIC DREAMS-QUINTETS FOR PIANO AND STRINGS