Germany’s Concerti magazine has praised the Scharoun Ensemble’s new recording of Schubert’s Octet, describing it as a captivating, nuanced listening experience from beginning to end.
The review notes that the work is practically the DNA of the ensemble, whose eight-member lineup — clarinet, bassoon, horn, string quartet, and double bass — was formed in 1983 based on the model of Schubert’s Octet itself. The group has since performed the piece well over five hundred times, making this new recording of the hour-long, six-movement work a milestone return to signature repertoire.
Concerti highlights Schubert’s own ambition for the piece, which he intended to pave the way to the great symphony, and finds that ambition realized in the recording’s rich colors, perfectly blended textures, and sustained intensity. The ensemble is praised for imbuing Schubert’s shifting emotional landscape — between light and shadow, hope and rupture, ecstasy and disillusionment — with remarkable complexity.
The result, according to Concerti, is a fascinating range of expression sustained across the entire work.
Schubert: Octet is out now on PENTATONE.
