Rémy Ballot, Iris Ballot, Jörgen Fog, Manfred Hecking & Yoko Urata-Fog - Forellenquintett, Klavierquintett (2025) Hi-Res

On this recording, the piano quintet led by violinist and conductor Rémy Ballot juxtaposes Franz Schubert’s famous Trout Quintet with Johann Nepomuk Hummel’s much less frequently heard Piano Quintet, composed almost 20 years earlier. What both quintets have in common (apart from the fact that they remained unpublished for several years after completion) is the fact that they were – according to the contemporary convention – still scored for double bass, which would usually become replaced by a second violin in the later course of music history. Yoko Urata-Fog, piano, Rémy Ballot, violin, Iris Ballot, viola, Jörgen Fog, cello and Manfred Hecking, double bass, impress with their uncompromising musicality and unpretentious playing, which brings out the diverse layers of sound in a unique, almost analytical way, and prove the point that after many dozens of recordings of “The Trout” (yet far less of the Hummel quintet), there still remains something genuine to be expressed with these “Classics”.