• George Onslow’s (1784-1853) grandfather was the first Earl of Onslow. Onslow’s father had been forced to leave England after a family scandal and had continued his life as a nobleman in France. George was born there and grew up in the magnificent castle of Chalendrat in Clermont-Ferrand, where he followed his father as lord of the manor. At the age of 22 he discovered the operas of Mehul and decided then that music was his vocation.
• Onslow combined this double life of composer and chatelain in Auvergne, but in the winter season he appeared frequently in Parisian musical circles, where he met composers such as Meyerbeer, Rossini, and Donizetti, alongside the salons where Liszt and Chopin presented their romantic bravura piano music. Onslow’s musical style was very different from that of his colleagues. With his strict classical style, he was unique in Paris, concentrating on instrumental works, primarily chamber music. Schumann described Onslow’s quartets as worthy successors to those by Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. • This recording combines two Piano Quintets, the opus 70 and 76, substantial and full bodied dramatic works in classical style.
• The Nepomok Fortepiano Quintet was founded in 1999 by Riko Fukuda and Pieter Smithuijsen to play music for the unusual combination of fortepiano, violin, viola, cello and double bass. The Nepomuk Fortepiano Quintet (named after their patron Johann Nepomuk Hummel) play on original instruments, the piano an exceptionally fine period instrument from the famous collection of Edwin Beunk.
