Academy of Ancient Music - Franz Schubert: Octet in F major D 803 (1990)
Academy of Ancient Music - Franz Schubert: Octet in F major D 803 (1990)
EAC | FLAC | Tracks (Cue & Log) ~ 244 Mb | Total time: 59.48 | Scans included
Classical | Label: L'Oiseau-Lyre | # 425 519-1 | Recorded: 1988
EAC | FLAC | Tracks (Cue & Log) ~ 244 Mb | Total time: 59.48 | Scans included
Classical | Label: L'Oiseau-Lyre | # 425 519-1 | Recorded: 1988
Those used to hearing period instrument ensembles will know that the differences in sound color with modern instruments are not as dramatic with strings and winds as they are with the fortepiano. What they bring to us is a softer-grained string tone, to the point at times of lacking tension and projection, and more vivid and rough-hewn wind tone, especially from natural horn and bassoon (they sound almost kazoo-like here in their little exchange at 12:42 in the first movement). The use of period instrument also tends to go hand-in-hand with a choice of brisker tempos - not systematically, as this is a matter of interpretive choice, and there are plenty of counter-examples in Schubert's Octet itself, but this generalization finds a good example in the present version.
After a rapidly paced introduction, the Academy's Allegro is brisk, urgent, with vigorous accents, much in the same vein as the competing Hausmusik (with which it shares many interpretive features) but slightly more flexible. Individual contributions are outstanding, especially from the wind soloists (with sometimes powerful horn playing by Anthony Halstead. But like some of his colleagues from other versions clarinettist Antony Pay doesn't play the little grace note at 2:44 nor the trill at 10:09), and Monica Huggett's violin tone, while a bit thin, blends well with the rest of the ensemble and has none of the shrillness found in some of her colleagues from other versions. Likewise, the Academy's "Adagio" (2nd movement) is forward-moving and gently flowing. It is graced by Antony Pay's beautiful nuances, hushed pianissimos and wonderful exchanges with Huggett. It may lack the kind of ethereal quality brought to it by some modern instrument ensembles (Fine Arts Quartet from 1962 on Boston Skyline Schubert: Octet In F/String Quartet No.10 , Berliner Solisten on Teldec Schubert Octet in F Major Berliner Solisten - see my reviews) at a slower tempo, but the passage at 6:27 has a fine sense of urgency and brooding drama. The ensuing "Allegro vivace" (3rd movement) is boisterous and exuberant, very (and appositely) "hunt-like", thanks to the raw colors of the wind instruments. No modern instrument ensemble that I have heard is capable of emulating such a character, and the Academy is equalled only by Hausmusik's version. They commendably apply no mawkish slow down in the trio, given a lively and urgent character. In the same vein, their utterance of the 4th movement theme is forward-moving and imparted a lively and carefree character, with none of the fussiness that most ensembles bring to it. The ensuing variations do not linger and unfold with outstanding solo contributions from violin, clarinet, horn, and cello and good characterization of each variation's mood, if not always with a great concern for tempo unity: the players' whip-up of tempo and the ensuing urgency given to the fifth variation, followed by a slamming of breaks in the next one, effective as they are, show a striving for effect rather than a concern for architectural cogency, and here I prefer Hausmusik's lesser variance from a basic pulse.
The 5th movement Menuetto is brisk, lively and well accented, and the middle trio wonderfully conjures echoes of the open-air serenade from Mozart's and Schubert's time. The finale is unhurried, played with good-humored bonhomie (and it is here at variance with the brisker approach of Hausmusik) and displays at times a boisterously sonorous horn (5:45). Of note is the textual emendation at 8:18 on the return of the opening "Andante molto" passage, with the repeated violin notes taken an octave higher than written and given the high-pitched sound of piccolo flute - I do not know what might be the basis for such a hitherto un-encountered departure from score, but I do find it a welcome effect. It is all topped off by a brisk and spirited coda.
Performer:
Academy of Ancient Music:
Monica Huggett, violin
Pavlo Beznosiuk, violin
Martin Kelly, viola
Timothy Mason, cello
Barry Guy, double bass
Antony Pay, clarinet
Felix Warnock, bassoon
Anthony Halstead, natural horn
Tracklist:
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
Octet in F major, D803 (Op.posth.166)
01. I. Adagio - Allegro
02. II. Adagio
03. III. Allegro vivace - Trio
04. IV. Andante und variationen
05. V. Menuetto: Allegretto - Trio
06. VI. Andante molto - Allegro
Exact Audio Copy V1.1 from 23. June 2015
EAC extraction logfile from 10. September 2020, 13:46
Academy of Ancient Music Chamber Ensemble / Schubert - Octet, D. 803
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Academy of Ancient Music - Franz Schubert: Octet in F major D 803 (1990)
Thanks to the original releaser