Search - Louis Spohr, Sandor Papp, Haydn Quartet :: Spohr: String Quintets Vol.3

Poor disregarded Spohr!

J Scott Morrison | Middlebury VT, USA | 03/27/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Poor, poor Spohr! He's constantly dismissed because he's not Beethoven. What he was, though, was a thoroughly competent composer of the Beethoven ilk who wrote tons of chamber music that is not only fun to play but to hear. Nothing earth-shattering, mind you, but he was a skillful craftsman and could write in extended forms with the best of them. And he could write a tune, too. Most of his stuff is violin-driven: he was a violin virtuoso and his first violin parts are usually pretty showy.This is the continuation of a series that started out on Marco Polo and has been transferred over to the budget Naxos label. There are seven quintets, all with an extra viola like Mozart's, and they are played quite well by the Haydn Quartet with Sandor Papp, viola, sitting in.Frankly, I adore Spohr (no rhyme intended). His is easy music to like and it's also music that, I hate to say it, makes wonderful background music for when you're reading the paper, or doing your taxes, or driving in traffic.The whole series is recommended."