Arensky: Piano Quintet; Taneyev: Piano Quintet

This recording presents two chamber masterpieces from nineteenth-century Russia, performed by Piers Lane and the Goldner String Quartet. Taneyev's Piano Quintet in G minor is possibly the greatest work in the Russian piano-chamber repertoire before Shostakovich's Piano Quintet of 1940. Only the extravagance of its technical demands can explain its failure to establish itself in the standard repertoire. Arensky's Piano Quintet is less monumental and less flamboyant, though not exactly short of fireworks, especially in the piano writing. It is a deeply attractive and enjoyable work and equally little-known on the concert platform.