ACO StudioCasts: Schubert’s Quintet

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Schubert’s career was marked by admiration for Beethoven and his desire to match the heights achieved by his hero. In his “perfect” Quintet, probably the best long-form piece of chamber music ever written, he achieved that goal.

Composed in the final weeks of his far too short life, the writing is symphonic, alluding to far more harmonic colours than had ever been thought possible for an ensemble of this size. The use of two cellos was revolutionary and gave him scope for exploration of tone and texture.

Schubert was at his most touching and ephemeral in major keys, and this star-studded ACO ensemble, lead by Richard Tognetti, will take you on a soulful journey through sadness, fear, contemplation and joy, with a melodic richness reflecting Schubert’s status as one of the great writers of song.

It’s the intimate and the grand brilliantly merged.