Taneyev and Schumann Piano Quintets

“The two towering masterpieces of the piano quintet genre on this disc were written seventy years and a thousand miles apart, but for all this, they are closely related” – Marina Frolova Walker. Signum artists Peter Donohoe and the Sacconi Quartet join forces to bring piano quintets by Sergey Taneyev and Robert Schumann in their latest album. They were among the last UK musicians to tour Russia in February 2020, before the twin devastations of COVID-19 and the subsequent war in Ukraine. Their performances of Taneyev’s spectacular Piano Quintet were received with universal acclaim by the Russian audiences, who seldom get to hear the music of Taneyev in their own country. This resulting album recording felt inevitable, coupling the Taneyev with Schumann’s earlier quintet, itself of such significance to Sergey Taneyev. Cover art is by Robert Schumann himself: a sketch of churches within the Kremlin made during his visit to Moscow in 1844.