Schmidt's A major Quintet for clarinet, piano and strings is an original and thoughtful work in five movements, one of which is for piano alone. No doubt the fact that it was written with the left-handed Paul Wittgenstein in mind accounts for the latter. The piano part was subsequently re-arranged by Friedrich Wuhrer for both hands, in which form it is recorded here. In all it takes about an hour and is seldom if ever encountered in the concert hall, though its finale, a set of variations on a theme by Josef Labor, is occasionally played on its own. (Indeed, on their Decca LP of the G major Piano Quintet, the Vienna Philharmonia Quartet with Eduard Mrazek recorded it as a fill-up—5/76, nla). The work has a fantasy and nobility that recalls such figures as Elgar and Suk, and there is a strong debt to Reger. The fourth movement even suggests late Brahms.
The Quintet appeared some years ago in a very good performance by the Vienna Kammermusiker from Preiser (dating from 1984), but this newcomer by Slovak artists is not its inferior either as a performance or recording. The clarinettist, Aladar Janowska may not always be quite as imaginative as Christoph Eberle on Preiser, but there is not a great deal to choose between them and the Slovaks have the benefit of fresher recorded sound. Both versions are too closely balanced to be ideal and the piano looms larger in the aural picture in the slow movement (not sustaining the illusion of a complete performance). Though there is not quite enough back-to-front perspective, too much should not be made of this; the players are sensitive and the recording more than serviceable. Recommended in preference to the Viennese account listed above.'