Schubert’s Trout Quintet – Dewsbury Town Hall

The Dewsbury lunch-time series organised by Kirklees Council and Opera North consists of snacks (soup, coffee, etc.) followed by concerts of up to an hour (this one was just over 40 minutes) performed generally by members of the Opera North Orchestra. This season it’s more common to feature one major work rather than a series of shorter pieces.

It’s not difficult to understand the popularity of Schubert’s Trout Quintet, intensely melodic, full of energy even in the second of five movements, the only slow movement. The unusual instrumentation was apparently arrived at by chance: a group assembled to play Hummel’s piano quintet, which has the same instrumentation, moved on to Schubert’s new work. As distinct from the usual string quartet plus piano, the Trout utilises a double bass instead of a second violin. The presence of two lower strings provides a wonderfully resonant basis to all the music whilst the piano stays mainly in the upper register.

The key to the quintet is the use Schubert makes of his own song “Die Forelle” (“The Trout”). The fourth movement is a theme and variations on the delightful melody, spreading the lead among the various instruments, a beautiful cello variation leading into the violin and viola taking us through to an exhilarating conclusion to the movement. But this is only part of the influence of the song: the other movements constantly hint at fragments of its melody, the rippling piano phrases suggesting the fish in the river.

David Cowan, Head of Music at Opera North, before settling to a vivid reading of the piano part, explained that the work had come at a particularly happy time in Schubert’s life and that feeling of joy suffuses the whole work. He also apologised for the administrative error that resulted in a lack of programmes and introduced his colleagues (first names only) from the stage. Hence the following list may not be perfect! Violinist Byron Parish enjoyed his lively dialogue with Cowan’s piano and Anne Trygstad (viola), Lydia Dobson (cello) and Roberto Carillo Garcia (double bass) formed a perfectly balanced unit that well deserved the extended applause from a well-filled hall.

Reviewed on 14th February 2024