FRANCK & MARTIN: Piano Quintets Martin Klett

• Frank Martin (1890 - 1974): Piano Quintet:
• 1 Martin: Piano Quintet: I. Andante con moto 05:52
• 2 Martin: Piano Quintet: II. Tempo di minuetto 05:11
• 3 Martin: Piano Quintet: III. Adagio ma non troppo 07:28
• 4 Martin: Piano Quintet: IV. Presto 05:05
• César Franck (1822 - 1890): Piano Quintet in F Minor, FWV 7:
• 5 Franck: Piano Quintet in F Minor, FWV 7: I. Molto moderato quasi lento 15:10
• 6 Franck: Piano Quintet in F Minor, FWV 7: II. Lento, con molto sentimento 09:53
• 7 Franck: Piano Quintet in F Minor, FWV 7: III. Allegro con troppo, ma non fuoco 09:16
• Total Runtime 57:55

Info for FRANCK & MARTIN: Piano Quintets

Late Romantic Piano Quintets: “… We only have two hands, and our ten fingers are not capable of exploiting all the possibilities”: that is how composer Frank Martin (1890-1974) once described the inadequacies of the keyboard. However, pianist Martin Klett and the members of the Armida Quartet view things somewhat differently. Similarly to the string quartet as a whole ensemble, the piano forms “a perfect unit in itself”, Klett affirms.

And the musical genre of the piano quintet has its own special charm, owing to that autonomy and independence of its two main elements. According to Klett, the piano quintet is ”the perfect line-up in chamber music”, since “the two components have a wide spectrum of sonorities at their disposal, enabling them to bring out all the timbre qualities we know from chamber as well as orchestral music, from the most intimate sonorities imaginable to the dense amassment of sound we encounter in a symphony!”

The five musicians on this recording savor every nuance of the line-up in which they are involved; in so doing, they are able to highlight the two highly different musical personalities of Frank Martin and César Franck (1822-1890), each of whom approached the genre from thoroughly different angles. Frank Martin viewed César Franck, two generations his elder, as an important master: “the first musician [...] who enabled me to disengage myself from Classical music”, as he remarked in retrospect.

Born in Geneva, Frank Martin would eventually become a true “outsider of new music”; his Piano Quintet, one of his early works, still bears the traces of the “Classical” tradition as well as of the legacy of his musical predecessor César Franck. What did Frank Martin mean by “Classical”? For him, it was clear: “J’étais dans Bach, encore dans Bach et dans Bach toujours...” (“I was fully into Bach, and still into Bach, and always into Bach”). (Excerpts from the liner notes)

Martin Klett, piano
Armida Quartett

Martin Klett
has made a name for himself as a solo pianist and chamber musician. Ever since winning the International Johannes Brahms Competition and the German National Music Competition, he has become a welcome guest at the prestigious music festivals of Lucerne, Schleswig-Holstein, Heidelberg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Schwetzingen to name just a few. Further invitations have led to performances throughout Europe and Asia.

As a valued chamber musician, Martin Klett regularly performs with ARD and ECHO prize winners, leaders from major orchestras and renowned professors. Among many others, his chamber music partners are Sebastian Manz, Daniela Koch, Jacques Ammon, Sophie Heinrich and Charles-Antoine Duflot. He has also been invited to perform with such artists as Sabine Meyer, Benedict Klöckner, Maximilian Hornung, Gabriel Schwabe, the Schumann Quartet and many more.

Numerous live recordings as well as 7 CD productions so far present Martin Klett’s extensive discography. The most recent ones are his chamber music CDs with clarinetist Sebastian Manz, published by CAvi and Berlin Classics, as well as the latest album of his Cuarteto SolTango, recorded at Deutschlandfunk Köln. Rave reviews by the Rondo and The Strad magazines illustrate their great success. Martin Klett is currently planning two recordings as soloist in collaboration with the South West German Broadcast and Deutschlandradio Berlin, along with another album by Cuarteto SolTango.

Born in 1987, Martin Klett started taking piano lessons at the age of six. He has been particularly influenced and inspired by Prof. Konrad Elser who provided significant guidance at the Conservatoire of Lübeck. Further tutelage by Elisabeth Leonskaja, Leon Fleisher, Pascal Devoyon, Gerhard Schulz and Walter Levin has rounded off his artistic development. Crowning an impressive array of prizes and distinctions, Klett was awarded a further fellowship from the German National Music Competition which accorded him strengthened recognition as a soloist. A passionate pedagogue, he tutors students of the Conservatoire of Leipzig in piano studies.

Apart from his activities as a classical performer, Klett is an avid arranger and bears a keen interest for Argentine tango. In 2008 he founded the Cuarteto SolTango, which performs Tango Argentino in the spirit of true chamber musicianship, challenging the repertoire of classical concert series on internationally renowned stages and at established festivals in conjunction with Deutschlandfunk and Bavarian Broadcast.

Booklet for FRANCK & MARTIN: Piano Quintets