Piano Quintet, Straing Quartet : Rubackyte, Vilnius String Quartet (2CD)

Franck: Chamber Music (2CD)
Piano Quintet
String Quartet

Muza Rubackyte, piano
Vilnius String Quartet

Recorded in 2008

After Muza Rubackyte’s dazzling disc of the piano music (released in May), the second Franck release on Brilliant pairs her with fellow Lithuanian musicians for the two major chamber works by the Belgian composer. Both the String Quartet and Piano Quintet are conceived on a grand scale, with the loose, long-limbed melodies and intensely worked counterpoint characteristic of Franck; as late works, they represent a summit of his musical achievement, but they demand fearsome levels of concentration from performers, which may be one reason why they are performed and recorded but rarely. ( Brilliant Classics )