Emotion and elegance could hardly form a more perfect union than they do in Gabriel Faures piano quintets. The Mozart Piano Quartet, here too not short on strongly expressive playing, brings in reinforcements for this new recording. For these two rarely heard quintets, the four musicians receive support from the violin legend Regis Pasquier and his student Sachiko Segawa, thereby adding a touch of special authenticity to this highly welcome production. Faure was once told that he would enjoy a brilliant career as a pianist if only he would practice more diligently. However, his playing cannot have been all that bad, given the fact that he himself premiered the second quintet with the great Eugene Ysaye on the violin. Paul Rivinius masters the highly virtuosic piano part with bravura and with unrivaled tonal finesse. Faures piano quintets of course have been produced with the very finest Super Audio CD technology. Especially on this three-dimensional recording, a sound panorama of captivating beauty spreads out a feast for all music lovers.
