 
|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
|
|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
How about a list of recommended of chamber music or quartets
For me the final realization of the chamner style practiced by the classisists and transmitted thru Beethoven is Brahms. No one else seems
to have such a natural affinity for the medium, along with the incredible level of artistic craftsmanship fired by the unmistakable genius of inspiration. It comes so naturally to Brahms.Let me suggest 3 pieces. If you take to them, you'll find your way to more.
Cello Sonata #1 (Starker/Seebok on Mercury)
Horn Trio (Zucherman/Ashkenazy on London)
Piano Quartet #1
Bach - Die Kunst der Fuge, Keller Quartet, (ECM New Series).Ives - *A Set of Pieces* and *The Unanswered Question*, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (DGG).
Ives - *Sonatas for Violin and Piano I-IV*, Schneeberger & Cholette (ECM New Series).
Janacek - *Mladi* and *Concertino*, Netherlands Wind Ensemble, conductor: Fischer (Chandos).
Varèse - *Hyperprism*, *Octandre*, *Ionisation* and *Déserts*, all on Varèse, The Complete Works (2-cd set), RCO/ASKO Ensemble, conductor: Chailly (Decca).
Hindemith - Sonatas for Winds and Piano, various performers (ARTS Music).
K.A. Hartmann, String Quartets 1 & 2, Pellegrini-Quartet (CPO).
Ustvolskaya - Grand Duet for Violoncello and Piano, De Saram & Schroeder (Hat Now).
Gubaidulina - String Quartets 1-3, The Danish Quartet (CPO).
Kurtàg - Musik für Streichinstrumente, Keller Quartet (ECM New Series).
Thanks!
Here's my list:
Essential Chamber MusicBeethoven Late Quartets, op. 132,135
Yale Quartet , Vanguard OVC 5003
op. 127, op.131
Yale Quartet, Vanguard OVC 5012
(Great music, great performances, good sound)Mozart String Quintets #1-6
Grumiaux Ens. Phillips 432511 2(3CDs)
(Great music, excellent performances, good sound)Mozart Clarinet Quintet K581, Brahms Clarinet Quintet op. 115
De Peyer:Clarinet, Melos Ens. EMI 7631162
(Great music- both Mozart and Brahms, excellent perfs., mediocre sound)Haydn, Piano Trios - 3 box set -some now avail on sep. cds
Beaux Arts Trio Phillips
(Best Haydn IMHO , mostly excellent music, extremely well played in good sound)Mozart String Quartets- K.499,575,589,590
Chilingirian Qt. CRD 3427, CRD 3428
(Great music, superb perfs., good sound)- caution, mine are getting CD rot, but still play ok------Schubert String Quintet op 163. Also 5th symphony
Stern, Shneider, Casals, et al. Sony SMK 58992
(Great music, superb perf, good mono SBM sound)Schoenberg Verklarte Nacht, Schubert op 163(again)
Hollywood String Quartet Testament SBT 1031
(Superb playing of the sextet vers. Auth by Schbg himself-
superb Schubert-diff from Sony above. ,mediocre mono sound)Dvorak- Tertzet op. 74, Quartet, op. 105; Janacek Str Quartet #2
Smetana Quartet Testament SBT 1031
(Range of wonderful music, well played, fair stereo sound)Debussy, Ravel- String Quartets
Guarneri Qt. RCA 09026-60909 2
(Lovely works, well played, good sound, mid priced reiss.)
++++++++Worthwhile Chamber Music
Schubert Piano Trios op.99, 100
Golub/Kaplan/Carr Trio Arabesque Z 6580-2
(Good music, well played, good sound—part of op. 100 was in Barry Lyndon- the movie)Franck & Debussy Violin Sonatas & Ravel Intro and Allegro
Chung and Lupu in the sonatas, Melos in the Ravel
London 421-154 2
(French romantic music, Great perfs. In the Franck and Ravel, good sound-well, a bit steely highs, but that’s London IMHO)Dvorak Piano Quintet op. 81, String Quintet op. 77
Gaudier Ens. Hyperion CDA 66796
(Nice works, well played, rec. 1995 by Tony Faulkner, sounds forward and clear)Faure Piano Quartets
Domus Hyperion CDA 66166
(I like this, but Faure is an acquired taste and I don’t like a lot of his other chamber music, well played, sound: if the violins screech you should check your seestem- they screeched on my old seestem. I’m listening to this now and enjoying it)Brahms Violin Sonatas op. 78, 100, 108
Gioconda de Vito, violin Testament SBT 1024
(If you like Brahms- I do somewhat, well played by a great violinist, fair mono sound)++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
LIGHTER FUN ITEMS
+++++++++++++++++++++++
Schubert Octet
Acad. St. Martin in the Fields Chandos 8585
(Wonderful sunny music, great perf. , sound good. An alternative is the Nash version on Virgin which has better sound, but, perhaps, not better perf.)
________________________-French Music for Clarinet and Piano- St. Saens, Debussy, Poulenc and others.
de Peyer, clarinet; Pryor, piano MHS 514361(reiss of Chandos)
(Fun music, great perf., good sound, this received a rosette from Penguin for the Chandos issue)Strauss & Lanner: Waltzes
Alban Berg Quartet & others EMI 754881 -2
(Unique music-Strauss Waltzes for small ens., good perfs. , good digital sound)
Funny, not many mentioned chamber music with wind instruments.Try:
Poulenc: Chamber Music - 2 Sonatas, Trio, Sextet, Elegie
DG #27639
This is Poulenc at his most accessable.Or Mozart's Wind Quintet. (My recording has Karl Leister in it.)
You will be hooked!
The Late quartets by Beethoven are the pinnacle IMHO. I like the versions by the Yale Quartet on Vanguard. I also own the Quartteto Italiano which is not quite as good for me. I have a few of these on older recordings by the Busch Quartet and the performances are wonderful, but not the sound--it is from the 1930s-40s.Another must is the Schubert String Quintet. My fave is by Casals and the gang on a mono Sony. Another great recording of this work is by the Hollywood String Quartet on a Testament CD reissue.
Mozart and Haydn chamber works are up there too, but another post for those!
And Debussy and Ravel, and so many others!
WoW!! Many thanks to all who contributed to the discussion. I have started on a new journey,sort of "being and becoming". This is my first venture into this medium.
It is not necessary to live; It is necessary to travel.Trans. from Latin. Appeared in one of William Burroughs' books.
Quartetto Italiano recording of Ravel String Quartet is ravishing.
Other favorites:
Mozart Clarinet Quintet
Schubert Lieder with Quasthoff, Fischer-Dieskau, Wunderlich, etc.
Dvorak "American Quartet"
Bartok violin duos with Perleman and Zuckerman
Bach cello suites, Rostropovich and/or Casals
Faure piano quartet
Beethoven "Archduke" Trio with Casal Cortot and Thibaud
Late Beethoven quartets, Busch Quartet or Quartetto Italiano
Brahms piano quintet
Schubert Quintet in C Major
Boccherini string quartets, Quartetto italiano
Which group is your fave in the Mozart Clarinet Quintet and the Faure Piano Quartets?Have you heard the Yale Quartet in the late Beethoven's? Some of what they do is very like the Busch, except more "modern" IMHO.
Haven't researched the Mozart very much. Have an old vinyl recording on Philips of the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields Chamber Players with Anthony Pay on Clarinet. It also has a Mozart Oboe work. The Faure is similar - old vinyl RCA recording of Rubinstein with the Guarneri Quartet in Faure piano quartets/quintets. I'm a big Rubinstein fan, so I haven't searched for other recordings. Don't even know what is available. The slow movement of the clarinet quintet is one of the most (IMHO) sublime things Mozart ever wrote.I'm heading to Paris for 3 weeks. Maybe I'll hear some Faure there.
Agreed re: Mozart's slow movement. Hope you enjoy Paris. Let us know your audiophile and musicphile impressions of the "City of Light".
Chamber music isn't really my cup of tea.
Anyway, among the few records I own, I must recommend one, already recommended by Rob.
It's the Schubert Quintet D.956.
My CD is from Amadeus Quartet on DG.
Regards,
Jorge
Don't forget Bach's Brandenburg Concertos. There are a number of good ones. The Hogwood performances are quite lively, and well recorded, too.The Kodaly Quartet has been recording the Haydn Qts. for some years now on Naxos, and many of them are quite good. I am not at home, so I can't look up all of them. Since about 1993, most Naxos discs are recorded very well; earlier, the sound is variable, though some are very good.
The Italian Quartet (or Quartetto Italiano) seemed to do anything very well. Granted they are analogue recordings, mostly from the late 60's and the 70's, I think, but the recording quality is good to excellent in what I have seen on Philips.
I have one CD with Haydn Qts. with the Italian Quartet, and it is extremely good.
Mozart's 6 Haydn Qts. are great works. I have the Melos Ensemble recording, and it's OK, but there may be even better performances.
The Italians have one of the classic sets of the 16 Beethoven Qts.in a Philips box set, and the performances are fabulous. The recording quality is more than acceptable. I doubt if you can find a better value.
The Italians also have one of the finest pairings of the Debussy and Ravel Quartets, also on Philips.
On a budget London CD, there is a great performance of the Ravel's Introduction and Allegro with Ossian Ellis on the harp, and I think the Melos ensemble. Beautiful analogue recording of this sensuously beautiful work.
On Naxos, there are some great recordings of the later Dvorak Qts. with the Vlach Quartet of Prague, a wonderful group. I recommend especially Quartets 10 and 14, which they play very beautifully, and the disc with the "American Quartet" (no. 12, I think) is also extremely good. These are excellent modern digital recordings, somewhat reverberant, which is good with chamber music. Don't let the low price fool you, these are among the best there are.
I would have to get home and look at what I have, but this and the other replies should give you some good choices.
Here are a few suggestions:
Brahms Piano Quintet in F minor Op. 34
Brahms String Quartets Op. 51 & Op. 67
Beethoven Violin Sonata #9("Kreutzer")
Beethoven Piano Trios Op. 70 #1("Ghost")& Op. 97 ("Archduke")
Beethoven String Quartets Op. 59("Razumovsky Quartets"), Op. 74("Harp"), Op. 95("Serioso")
Beethoven String Quartets Op. 127, 130, 131, 132, & 135("Beethoven's Late Quartets")
Haydn String Quartets Op. 76 & Op. 64
Mozart String Quartets K. 387, K. 421, K. 428, K.458, K.464, & K.465. (Mozart's "Haydn Quartets"). I especially like 421,428,&458.
Mendelssohn Octet Op. 20
Schubert Piano Quintet D. 667("Trout")
Schubert String Quartet D. 810("Death and the Maiden")
Schumann Piano Quintet Op. 44
The recording that got me started into collecting chamber.......DG "Masters" 445 551-2 Emerson String Quartet
Dvorak String Qrt #12 "American"
Tchaikovsky Str. Qrt #1
Borodin Str. Qrt #2#########################################################################
Favorite Album: (and such a deal!)
Philips Classics Duo (2cd's for price of one) 438 365-2
Beaux Arts Trio w/ Gyorgy Sebok, Arthur Gumiaux, Frances Orval, George Pieterson
"The Complete Brahms Trios"This thing has such "magic" (to me) that it will be one of the first things played when my new SE monoblocks are finished. (hopefully this weekend)
john
Haydn virtually invented the string quartet as a form and wrote dozens of them, and all are good, most are great. He also wrote a number of trios for piano, violin and cello, and they also are delightful. Pick at random and you cant go wrong. Mozart wrote two wonderful quartets for piano and strings. The best recording of the two of them is the one by the Beaux Arts Trio (plus one other player). The Schubert Trout Quintet and the
C major String Quintet are great. And the greatest chamber music of all are the Beethoven string quartets. But dont neglect the Beethoven piano trios, especially the "Ghost" and "Archduke"
I've heard some 'late' onces and I definately like them, but which performance/recording do you consider to be the best, because I still have to purchase them...
This is an area where I have very strong opinions, as the Beethoven late string quartets are the most important musical works in the world to me.Among modern recordings, top honors go to the Vegh Quartet--more depth and insight by far than any others. They are wonderful in the middle quartets as well, especially Op 59, no. 3.
2nd place: Quartetto Italiano
3rd place, and best sound: Tokyo Quartet
Honorable mention overall, with maybe the best slow movement in Op 132: Yale QuartetI dont care for the much touted Alban Berg. There OK for the early ones. But in the late ones they are in over their head. Very polished playing. The best technically, but no spirituality. Their recent set is better than the earlier one however.
I havent heard the Emersons, but they are supposed to be good.
Since you can put up with poor sound quality, look into the Busch Quartet. They are in a league of their own. They were recorded in the 30s. Certain ly the sound is listenable, and good for the period. They combine technical polish with the same kind of insight and depth that the Vegh bring to this music.
I think you're not sure about the choice between Vegh and Busch. Thanks anyway, I'm going to listen and maybe buy both. As far as I know, Emerson is very good in 'intellectual' music: they can play it very 'soulful', like there isn't any intellectualism, just music. At least, that's why I love their recordings of Bartok....
I have not heard the Vegh. My favorites are the Yale and the Busch. I'm not as fond of the Italian Quartet, which I also have.Perhaps, I'll be able to listen to the Vegh and give a definitive. Although, I probably will not spring for a box set which I've not heard. Not even sure what label they are on. This is, for me, the pinnacle of western classical music. I'm sure there can be more than one really great interpretation of it.
OK, to be more specific:In Op 132 the Yale are absolutely my favorite--especially in the slow movement, which for me is one of the greatest glories of recording history.
In Op 127, the Vegh are absolutely my favorite. Again its the slow movement. If you will indulge me using somewhat risky language to express my feeling about these two performances (the Yale in 132 and the Vegh in 127), I would say that they do better than any other I have heard of bringing the listener (at least this one) to a direct encounter with the transcendent, in all its terrifying sublimity (in the Kantian sense of the sublime). The Veghs get way more out of the middle quartets than anyone else, all their readings of the late quartets are magnificent. For anyone seeking one complete set, this is it.
The one negative rap on the Vegh is that their playing is not as polished as has become the norm these days. Their intonation and ensemble does not match the Italians, Tokyo, Emersons, or Alban Berg. A very small, insignificant criticism in comparison to the depth and utter "rightness" of their interpretations. The Busch is the only other quartet to consistently equal them (the Yale surpass them in Op 132, but fall slightly short in the others) in terms of the greatness of their interpretation, and they are far more polished in their playing (astonishingly so). But the problem with the Busch is the 1930s sound). Bottom line is that the serious Beethoven quartet devotee MUST have the Vegh in the middle and late quartets. There is a Vangard CD with the Yale doing op 132 and 135, and that is absolutely indispensible. There are individual performances by the Busch and Quartetto Italiano--the former indispensible and the latter highly recommended.
The early quartets are rather lighter weight and so a number of modern, well recorded alternatives are fully adequate. The Alban Berg and Tokyo are fine, and given the glorious sound quality might be preferred to the older recordings (frankly, the sound of the Vegh recordings is not especially good even for 1974). The one quartet from the Op 18 set where the transcendental qualities of the late Beethoven is already abundantly displayed is the slow movemnt in Op 18, no. 1. Here again it is the Vegh that take it to higher plane.
Hope this helps.
I will seek the Op. 127 by the Vegh. Sounds like I'm going on an adventure!
Wow, Kant and Van Beethoven in one recommendation: if this isn't knowledge a priori with both analytical and synthetical a priori judgements, my name is Richard Rorty...Vegh will be it!Thanks.
Methinks the man knows some philosophy!
Methinks you're right:-)
my Dr. is in philosphy, from the University of Chicago. Had about 6 courses and seminars in Kant, including one on the Critique of Judgemnt
Sorry, you've done something with 'Kritiek der Urteilskraft'.
Guess my judgement was too fast:-)
You mean 'Kritik der reinen Vernunft', Kant shouldn't be translated like Rorty shouldn't be translated too. You'd miss all jokes and rethorics, especially with Rorty...I'm a student, hence no doctor in 'Science, Technology and Society' and philosophy is a major part of it, because it's almost the only 'objective' science to state something about science and all of its preassumptions.
I have the Beaux Arts disc of Mozart Piano Quartets. It's great. I heartily second that recommendation.
This is a very difficult question, because even more than with symphonic, nuances are very important. I just type a list of works I appreciate with those particular artists.Shostakovich String Quartets by Beethoven (historic and very Russian), Borodin(Russian), Brodsky(modern and audiophile).
Bartok by Emerson Quartet, though I heard good things about a recently released recording of a Hungarian Quartet. (Kertesz???)
Schubert's String Quintet by Schiff/Alban Berg Quartett.
Others might have more knowledge of Van Beethoven and older music, so furthermore I'll give it a rest.
Regards,
Rob
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
Top of Page ]
[ Contact Us ]
[ Support/Wish List ]
[ Copyright © 2025, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
