Franck: Piano Quintet, Debussy: String Quartet CD review – a game of two halves

Takács Quartet, Marc-André Hamelin (piano) (Hyperion)Of all the music César Franck wrote, four works made his name: the Symphonic Variations, the Violin Sonata, the Symphony in D minor and this Piano Quintet. The quintet (1879) shares that same big, romantic sound and emotional intensity of the violin sonata, beautifully brought out here by Marc-André Hamelin and the Takács in a stirring, virtuosic recording - an ideal way to encounter a still unfamiliar work. This is, however, a...

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