The Nepomuk 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. For most listeners this instrumentation is associated primarily with Schubert's Trout Quintet. It is much less well known that Schubert was not the first composer to write for this combination; several others preceded him, including Johann Nepomuk Hummel, whose quintet is said to have given Schubert the idea to write for these five instruments, and in whose honour the Nepomuk Fortepiano Quintet is named. Research by members of the quintet in various European libraries has so far brought to light nearly twenty little-known (or completely unknown) quintets from the years 1800-1870. The Nepomuk Fortepiano Quintet believes that only by performance on authentic instruments can the sound world of these works be brought to life; the lighter bass register of the fortepiano, for example, balances perfectly with the sound of the double bass. The pianos played by Riko Fukuda all date from the time and place in which the various pieces were written and performed, and the string players all use gut strings. A permanent collaboration with piano restorer and collector Edwin Beunk enables the ensemble to play with any type of piano that is suitable to the concert program. New: third album of the Nepomuk Fortepiano Quintet: Trout Quintet by Schubert; Piano Quintet by Cramer.