Franck was a very late developer who arguably only found his real voice when he was approaching 60 and had but a decade left of his life. The Piano Quintet, among the first flowerings of this rich period, is a mighty work that often seems to strain at the boundaries of chamber music. Perhaps that is in part because (as the booklet-note suggests) this middle-aged church organist and teacher had suddenly found himself ''almost torn in two'' by the love for a lady called Augusta Holmes and thus needed to express himself in highly charged music. The surging passion of the big opening Allegro, in which the performance direction drammatico appears more than once, was thenceforth part of his personality and we hear it again in works as different as the Violin Sonata and the Symphony. Whatever the case, this is fervent and inspired music and the performance here does it full justice.
Unfortunately the recording, although digital and dating from 1983, is not as good, being two-dimensional and hardish in sonority, both here and in Collard's noble performance of the solo piano work. So despite the committed playing, collectors for whom sound is of major importance should heed a caveat, particularly since they are being asked to pay full price.'