The Quintetto Chigiano was an Italian musical ensemble

Musical ensemble

A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...

 comprising a string quartet

String quartet

A string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string players – usually two violin players, a violist and a cellist – or a piece written to be performed by such a group...

 with pianoforte, and was especially active during the 1940s-1960s.

Personnel

The personnel of the Quintet were made up as follows:

1st violin: Riccardo Brengola

Riccardo Brengola

Riccardo Brengola was an Italian violinist.Brengola was born in Naples. A child prodigy, he made his first studies with his father, and got his violin diploma in the Casablanca Conservatory at the early age of 11. returning to Italy, he studied violin with Arrigo Serato and orchestral conducting...

 (leader)

2nd violin: Mario Benvenuti

viola: Giovanni Leone

violoncello: Lino Filippini

piano: Sergio Lorenzi

Origins

The Quintetto Chigiano was founded in Siena

Siena

Siena is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena.The historic centre of Siena has been declared by UNESCO a World Heritage Site. It is one of the nation's most visited tourist attractions, with over 163,000 international arrivals in 2008...

, Italy, in 1939 and took its name from the Accademia Musicale Chigiana

Accademia Musicale Chigiana

The Accademia Musicale Chigiana is a music institute in Siena, Italy. It was founded by Count Guido Chigi Saracini in 1932 as an international centre for advanced musical studies. It organises Master Classes in the major musical instruments as well as singing, conducting and composition...

, which was founded by Count Chigi-Saracini. It was one of the rare permanent quintets in the world. The Quintet had the use of the four best instruments from Count Chigi-Saracini's private collection, namely a Camillo Camilli

Camillo Camilli

Camillo Camilli was a noted master luthier in the 18th century. His instruments are prized by string players to this day. Most were made in Mantua. He was a pupil of Zanotti but was mainly influenced by Pietro Guarneri of Mantova, the grandfather of Mantovan violin making...

 and a Guadagnini violin, an Amati

Amati

Amati is the name of a family of Italian violin makers, who flourished at Cremona from about 1549 to 1740.-Andrea Amati:Andrea Amati was not the earliest maker of violins whose instruments still survive today...

 viola and a Stradivarius

Stradivarius

The name Stradivarius is associated with violins built by members of the Stradivari family, particularly Antonio Stradivari. According to their reputation, the quality of their sound has defied attempts to explain or reproduce, though this belief is controversial...

 violoncello.

Performance

The Quintetto Chigiano made its Boston debut in 1961 for the Peabody Mason Concert series.

Recordings

The Quintet made several recordings for Decca Records

Decca Records

Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....

:

• Bloch
  Bloch
  Bloch is a surname.#Jewish : regional name for someone in Eastern Europe originating from Italy or France, from Polish "Włoch" meaning "Italian" .#German and Swedish: Variant of Block...
  
  , Piano quintet (1924) (Decca LP LXT 2626). (EMG review Dec. 1951).
• Boccherini, Piano quintet in A major (op posth) and quintet in D minor (Decca LP LXT 2841). (EMG review March 1954).
• Brahms, Piano quintet in F minor, op 34 (Decca LP LXT 2687). (EMG review June 1952).
• Dvořák
  Antonín Dvorák
  Antonín Leopold Dvořák was a Czech composer of late Romantic music, who employed the idioms of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia. Dvořák’s own style is sometimes called "romantic-classicist synthesis". His works include symphonic, choral and chamber music, concerti, operas and many...
  
  , Piano quintet in A major op 81 (Decca LP LXT 2519). (EMG review Nov 1950).
• Franck
  César Franck
  César-Auguste-Jean-Guillaume-Hubert Franck was a composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher who worked in Paris during his adult life....
  
  , Piano quintet in F minor (1879) (Decca LP LXT 2520). (c. 1950).
• Shostakovich, Piano quintet op 57 (Decca LP LXT 2749). (EMG review Dec 1952).

Having played all these works, during the 1960s the Quintet reformed itself into a Sextet

Sextet

A sextet is a formation containing exactly six members. It is commonly associated with vocal or musical instrument groups, but can be applied to any situation where six similar or related objects are considered a single unit....

.

Sources

• E. Sackville-West and D. Shawe-Taylor, The Record Year 2 (Collins, London 1953).
• E.M.G., The Art of Record-Buying 1960 (London 1960).
• E.M.G., The Monthly Newsletter (London)
• Printed flyer for Royal Festival Hall
  Royal Festival Hall
  The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,900-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge. It is a Grade I listed building - the first post-war building to become so protected...
  
   concert of Boccherini, Brahms and Dvořák
  Antonín Dvorák
  Antonín Leopold Dvořák was a Czech composer of late Romantic music, who employed the idioms of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia. Dvořák’s own style is sometimes called "romantic-classicist synthesis". His works include symphonic, choral and chamber music, concerti, operas and many...
  
  . (early 1950s).