Violinist James Ehnes and Collaborators Perform Franck and Enescu

César Franck Piano Quintet in F minor Enescu Octet for Strings in C Major, Op. 7

James Ehnes, violin; Amy Schwartz Moretti, violin; Grace Park, violin; Jun Iwasaki, violin; Che-Yen Chen, viola; Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt, viola; Edward Arron, cello; Bion Tsang, cello. Inon Barnatan, piano;

Seattle Chamber Music Society SCMS 003
seattlechambermusic.org

Two decades separate the works on this disc, yet César Franck's Piano Quintet and George Enescu's Octet make natural companions. Both push chamber music to the edge of the symphonic, both build vast structures from a handful of recurring ideas, and both demand players who can sustain intensity over long spans. Recorded at Nordstrom Recital Hall in Seattle and produced by Simon Kiln, the album features violinist James Ehnes, artistic director of the Seattle Chamber Music Society, at the head of a hand-picked ensemble of colleagues.

From the opening bars of the Franck, the emotional temperature is high. Ehnes is joined by pianist Inon Barnatan, violinist Amy Schwartz Moretti, violist Che-Yen Chen and cellist Edward Arron, and together they deliver a reading of rich textures and real character that goes straight to the heart of the work. When the quintet was first heard in Paris in 1880, its fervour unsettled more than a few listeners, and it is easy to hear why. The first movement runs for some 15 minutes without any let-up in its drama, rising through a tremendous crescendo in its closing pages before subsiding once more. The dynamics and phrasing of each player are a delight, the piano part is brilliantly handled, and there is a shared concentration on rhythmic clarity throughout.

The Lento sings. Barnatan's playing is lovely, every line is shaped with care, and the balance between the parts has a glowing warmth. There is a sensuality, too, in those low cello notes set against the piano. The finale opens atmospherically, the tremolo string ostinatos and dark piano writing set an unsettled mood, and the shifts in dynamics are superbly judged. The considerable technical demands are dispatched with ease, the balance is first-class, and the tension holds until the very last seconds. An absorbing performance.

For Enescu's Octet, Ehnes, Moretti, Chen and Arron are joined by violinists Grace Park and Jun Iwasaki, violist Milena Pájaro-van de Stadt and cellist Bion Tsang. Enescu was just 18 when he embarked on the work, and its sheer audacity remains astonishing: the material of its opening bars is reworked, reshaped and reimagined across four movements played without a break, and it asks a great deal of every one of the eight players.

Here the musicians' chemistry is plain to hear. As in the Franck, no detail goes unnoticed, and the changing textures and moods are vividly conveyed. The second movement, marked Très fougueux (very fiery), lives up to its billing, the ensemble's virtuosity firing on all cylinders before the music sinks to a hushed close in which you hardly dare breathe.

The Lentement is captivating. Every dynamic is precisely placed, its poetry communicated with skill and care, and Ehnes's melodic lines soar above the texture. Towards the end, a delicate pizzicato accompaniment and the gathering weight of the low cellos lead without a break into the closing waltz, a transition managed so smoothly that you barely notice the join.

Franck was in his late fifties when he wrote his quintet; Enescu barely out of school. On this evidence, experience and youthful daring make for equally thrilling listening when played with such panache.