Johann Nepomuk Hummel (1778-1837)
Quintette pour piano en ré mineur, op. 74
Quintette pour piano en mi bémol majeur, op. 87

Nepomuk Fortepiano Quintet

Riko Fuduka, pianoforte
Franc Polman, violon
Elisabeth Smalt, alto
Jan Insinger, violoncelle
Pieter Smithhuijsen, contrebasse

Compositeur renommé et pianiste de premier plan à Vienne, Hummel composa en 1816 un septuor pour flûte, hautbois, cor, alto, violoncelle, contrebasse et piano qu’il arrangea dans la foulée pour devenir le Quintette opus 74 pour violon, alto, violoncelle, contrebasse et piano. L’œuvre connut un succès immédiat et durable. La composition a de quoi plaire. Son discours dynamique et coloré est animé d’un lyrisme passionné et d’une inventivité revigorante qui pourrait avoir inspiré Schubert pour son quintette "La Truite". L’opus 87 a quant à lui été écrit en 1802 puis révisé en 1822 comprenant alors une nouvelle partie de piano. C’est cette dernière version qui nous est restée. On y apprécie la qualité de l’écriture mélodique encore marquée par le Classicisme mais imprégnée d’un lyrisme exalté qui fera les grandes pages du Romantisme. S’en dégagent une fraîcheur et une énergie enthousiasmantes soulignées par l’effervescence du piano et les envolées et ponctuations vivifiantes des cordes. Brilliant Classics a eu la bonne idée de réunir ici deux quintettes interprétés avec brio par le Nepomuk Fortepiano Quintet parus précédemment dans des albums séparés. On apprécie ainsi l’art éloquent et inspiré d’un compositeur prolifique ayant influencé une partie de la génération romantique. (Laurent Mineau)

Lively and colourful period-instrument accounts of pioneering works in the genre that later gave us masterpieces by Schubert, Schumann and Brahms. As a pupil of Mozart and contemporary of Beethoven, Hummel was esteemed for the elegance of both his playing and his music. His tone was clear and pure, his touch accurate, equal and refined, and Goethe is said to have remarked that ‘Hummel handles the piano as Napoleon handles the world.’ The opus numbers of these appealing quintets are misleading. The piano quintet had barely been invented as a genre – its principal forebears being the piano quartets of Mozart – when Hummel wrote this powerful E flat minor piece in 1802, later catalogued as Op.87 when he adapted it 20 years later for a piano with a larger range. Thus the piece itself belongs to his early period, much more Classical and Mozartian in manner than the powerful Op.74 which opens with a powerful D minor statement and continues in turbulent fashion as a work belonging to 1815, by which time the composer had achieved both fame and security. A quartet of Dutch string players, experienced in the early-music scene, forms the core of the Nepomuk quintet, named after the composer on this album; they are joined by the pianist Riko Fukuda, who contributes an authoritative essay on Hummel and his piano quintets to the booklet. When this recording of the Op.87 Quintet was first released in 2008, it received an enthusiastic welcome from Fanfare magazine: ‘This is a very valuable release… The manner in which all five musicians construct musical phrases throughout is quite impressive. And their sound blends superbly… The refinement with which these musicians rediscover this relatively unknown music is simply astonishing… The sound of this recording is quite impressive too; the level of detail is amazing, and the spatial depth is compelling.’