# Faure Chamber Music



## BrahmsWasAGreatMelodist (Jan 13, 2019)

Recommended recordings?


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

See the threads in different ares, like this one:

https://www.talkclassical.com/56531-faur-recommended-works-recordings.html?highlight=Faure


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## Marinera (May 13, 2016)

I have this 5CD box. I like it very much. And for songs - Gerard Souzay.


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

I don't know, but I never had any qualms about the old Vox Box.


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## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

I like these offerings:


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## Dirge (Apr 10, 2012)

String Quartet in E minor, Op. 121 (1924)
:: Loewenguth Quartet [Vox '66]

The austerity and elusiveness of Fauré's late style are here laced with and tempered by the nostalgia (and a bit of the anxiety/fear) of a dying old man to generate a uniquely beautiful atmosphere. It's a tough work to pull off, as it's tempting and easy to overplay the nostalgia and suck the life/vitality out of the music-making, but the Loewenguth Quartet avoids this pitfall and offers up the most savvy and compelling interpretation of the work that I've heard. The playing isn't as polished as it might be, timbres are a bit coarse/edgy, and the first violinist is too prominent and dominant, both sonically and musically, but phrasing is to the manner born and there's a still-vital pulse and purposefulness, even urgency, to the playing that keeps the sense of nostalgia from devolving into anything maudlin and dragging the performance down.

The recorded sound is rather shallow, dry, and constricted, and the instruments are poorly balanced and blended, exacerbated by excessive stereo separation. The most troubling aspect is that the first violin is too prominent and split too far to the left, almost isolated in the left speaker. Even so, I like the performance so much that I tolerate the poor recorded sound.


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## Portamento (Dec 8, 2016)

Ortiz / Fine Arts for the piano quintets, no doubt.


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## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

MarkW said:


> I don't know, but I never had any qualms about the old Vox Box.


Sometimes Vox's CD reissues exhibit questionable mastering. Many of the vinyl LPs were recorded using the then-current Dolby or more probably DBX noise reduction. These recordings must be played back (during the mastering process) through a DBX decoder. I hear drop-outs and inconsistencies which I feel are not due to tape aging, but rather a misalignment of the DBX tape. The 2-CD Charles Ives recording is especially bad. The Ponti Scriabin recording is especially bright, as if it were played back with no DBX at all (which puts pre-emphasis on the highs, then reduces them).


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

The piano quintets by Domus on Hyperion are sublime. At least to my ears. They made a recording of his two piano quartets as well. There is also a good quintet recording on Chandos by the Schubert Ensemble. You can compare samples at Presto.
https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/search?search_query=faure piano quintets


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## flamencosketches (Jan 4, 2019)

starthrower said:


> The piano quintets by Domus on Hyperion are sublime. At least to my ears. They made a recording of his two piano quartets as well. There is also a good quintet recording on Chandos by the Schubert Ensemble. You can compare samples at Presto.
> https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/search?search_query=faure piano quintets


Absolutely agreed, re: Domus. Those Fauré piano quintets are something else. Recommended to any lover of Brahms, or anyone else, for that matter.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Yeah, really beautiful stuff! The piano quartets are a bit more classical sounding so I didn't order those.


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## flamencosketches (Jan 4, 2019)

starthrower said:


> Yeah, really beautiful stuff! The piano quartets are a bit more classical sounding so I didn't order those.


They are worthwhile as well, but I prefer the quintets. Do get that disc if you see it cheaply.


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

Can't say I have a lot of Fauré in my collection -- a couple of key discs, and more than a couple copies of the Requiem -- but this one box of the Chamber Music gets me through my Fauré days with respectability:









Virgin Classics ‎- 5099907087523 
5 CD box set


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

A lovely Faure SQ performance.


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## gregorx (Jan 25, 2020)

Fauré Works for Cello


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## Simplicissimus (Feb 3, 2020)

The Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 1 in A Major, Op. 13 is played beautifully by Arturo Delmoni in a recording released by John Marks Records in 1996. The original recording is analog from 1982; this release is a good digital remastering. I love Delmoni's tone, which many people have compared to Fritz Kreisler's. Après un rêve, Op. 7 No. 1 for violin and piano is also on this disc, which is available on Arkivmusic.


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