Search - Ernst von Dohnanyi, Erno Szegedi :: Dohnányi: Quintet Op.26/Sextet Op.37

Transformative art

Josh Mitteldorf | Philadelphia, PA USA | 11/30/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Dohnanyi's musical genius is now coming to be recognized, 50 years after his death.



The Quintet Op 26 is my all-time favorite piece of chamber music, period. It is mystical philosophy translated into sound. The opening theme, in sotto voce strains two octaves apart, bares our awe before the unknown. The middle movement is an appreciation of love, absurdity and humor. The third and last movement opens with a full fugue in the strings, followed by a chorale in the unaccompanied piano. Magically, the fugue theme comes returns overlaid with the opening theme from the first movement, and the 2nd theme from the first movement chimes in as well in a climax of compositional virtuosity. When the dust clears, and that opening theme returns in a major key, it's just as though we've died and gone to heaven.



Transformative piece. A performance that brings out the music's every subtlety.



The sextet is jazzy, entertaining, full of laughs and surprises."