Judging this peculiar CD from Meridian ultimately comes down to a split decision. On one hand, the
Primrose Piano Quartet deserves credit for digging into the repertoire; researching these obscure chamber works by William Hurlstone, Thomas Dunhill, Roger Quilter, and Arnold Bax; and bringing them some semblance of life. On the other hand, these lackluster, second-rate pieces offer little musical value beyond their period trappings, and listeners may find them either too derivative or merely weak and uninspired. The
PPQ does its best to lend them vitality, and its energetic playing and attractive tone at least earn the performances decent marks. But Hurlstone's Piano Quartet in E minor and Dunhill's Piano Quartet in B minor are far too imitative of Brahms to be taken seriously, and they sustain interest only as long as one's curiosity holds out. Quilter's Gipsy Life (sic) partly breaks the album's heavy Brahmsian spell, but it is too much of a frothy confection to leave a deep impression. Out of the four selections, only the gritty Piano Quartet by Bax shows any originality or independent thought, but its brusqueness and opaque textures make it an ill-fitting work to close such an otherwise insipid and saccharine program. The unprocessed sound quality is fine, if a little hazy.