classical music:

	Brahms: Piano Quartet, Ballades / Amadeus Quartet Martin Lovett, Johannes Brahms, ... Deutsche Grammophon, 1996 average customer review:based on 6 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

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The Opus 10 Ballades are youthful works that fans of Brahms always love and young pianists love to learn. Well, this recording of these pieces will give them a great model to shoot for.

The recording sounds great and is definitely worth owning.

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clasping hands

This performance of Johannes Brahms' (1833-1897) Klavierquartett Nr. 1 is among my favourite. With equal proficiency, Mr Emil Gilels (1916-1985) and the Amadeus Quartet express both the power and delicacy of this complex piece. From a technical perspective, I don't know what separates this from other recordings. When I listen to this, though, I am enthralled by the range of emotions. The notes by Mr Peter Cossé explain the importance of Deutsche Grammophon's signing of the Russian pianist during the Cold War. "In those days, in the late '60s and early '70s, a contract between an artist from the Soviet Union and a Western label was a sensational event in cultural diplomacy" Perhaps it is this cultural significance which inspired the performers. If you are interested in "one of the most significant pianists of the 20th century", in chambre music by one of the most significant composers of the 19th century, or in romantic music played extremely well, this CD will interest you.

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The best performance of Gilels in his life

First at all. I've always thought that Gilels is a superb musician altough something cold to my taste.

His readings of Rachmaninov lack that humanism that should be in your mind your soul and your fingers when you play that romantic composer.

I make this previous statement because when I decided to acquire this record in those Lp's days , in 1980., I did it because the two only references that I knew still didn't fill my requests.
So it happened the incredible. What happened in that recording evening? I don't know but Gilels was enraptured and possesed by Dionsyan inspiration and The Amadeus quartet in their best.

The result was an amazing performing, from the first bar to the last one. Every note is played with a comittment like the same Casals would have been present in the recording studio. What kind of playing! Personally I think this is the definitive version of this quartet op. 25.

Don't think I've tried. I tried with Serkin-Bush, I've bought Edwin Fisher and I found in New York Badura Skoda Janigro Fournier and all those recordings were well made but without enthusiasm and even an atom of sparkling light.

Many people don't seem understand that Brahms' shyness and all those comentaries about his craft , would make him the first on the line in Beethoven's heritage in his time.

For me, (and this is a personal consideration), Brahms suffered a personal crisis knowing the huge responsability upon his shoulders when he presented his first Symphony. And the fact that seems prove this statement is that the first symphony is Op.48.

This long speech allows me conclude that in the chamber music's mood he seemed to feel less presure and he , in certain way he felt with a major liberty to compose. Remeber also that the chamber music was a more intimate music and not for all the great audiences.

In this sense, even to understand the musical language of Johannes Brahms, please go and listen first all his chamber music. You'll find such kind of hidden treasures such the clarinet's quintets and his two strings quintets, for example, and then go for meeting the symphonic Brahms.

And if you had some doubt about the quality and great musicality of this genere in Brahm's music, go and explore how much of his music was played by Casals in Prades. Doesn'it tell you anything?
Back to the quartet op. 25, you'll find a young Brahms, in the peak of his craft.

And consider this recordings among the best performers of this important sign Deutsche Grampohone.

The sound in CD is fabolous.

Don't miss that version for any reason. It's essential for you to have it in your personal collection.

And then you 'll forget the others versions you had before.

Believe me.

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Passionate Brahms

This recording of Brahms's G minor Piano Quartet, the most celebrated of his three works in the genre, is absolutely spectacular. Rarely does such passion from all members of a group come through so clearly and beautifully as it does in this disc. Every bar, every phrase has real character, though never exaggerated or artificial. The slow movement is as tender as one could hope for; the last movement every bit as fleeting and brazen as any work I have ever heard recorded. There is no doubt Mr. Gilels is one of history's great Brahmsians; the Amadeus, though not as celebrated for Brahms as others, here matches Gilels's spirit. This recording is not sentimental and not overly sensitive. It is, however, genuine, heartfelt, and, to my mind, certainly the finest available of this work. The Ballades, op. 10 provide a wonderful filler.

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Very good quartet, outstanding ballades

Most people would buy this record for the Brahms piano quartet and consider the ballades as additional benefit. I, too, thought that way when I saw it at a local music shop. I bought it promptly, being already familiar with Emil Gilels and the Amadeus Quartet in a fine recording of Schubert's "Trout" quintet (like this CD, one of the Deutsche Grammophon ORIGINALS collection). Yet when I now play the CD, more often than not it is for the four ballades. Beautiful is not a precise way to describe them, although they are that without a doubt. All four are GOOD music lovingly played by a great pianist who had made them his own. As for the Brahms op. 25, it has earned its reputation among chamber music lovers for its melodious flow and its exuberance (especially the gypsy-style finale). Gilels blends well with the Amadeus Quartet (minus second violinist Siegmund Nissel), achieving a smooth, elegant performance. Nevertheless, I have one reservation, that certain passages are too sugary for my taste, though others may love the music for this same quality. I don't think it is a matter of the ensemble's interpretation, but something inherent in the music as composed - here is early Brahms in a decidedly romantic mood. On the other hand, the first movement - the longest and most substantial of the quartet - is not only beautifully lyrical but includes intense passages that anticipate a later Brahms, while the energetic last movement (Rondo alla Zingarese) provides some concluding thrills. Thus to me the work is sufficiently balanced to net a (subjective) rating of four stars. And the ballades as performed by Gilels? A solid five stars.

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reviews: page 1, 2



Tracks
Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor, Op. 25: 1. Allegro | Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor, Op. 25: 2. Allegro, ma non troppo | Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor, Op. 25: 3. Andante con moto | Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor, Op. 25: 4. Rondo alla Zingarese: Presto | Ballades (4) for piano, Op. 10: 1. Andante - Allegro - Andante | Ballades (4) for piano, Op. 10: 2. Andante - Allegro non troppo - Molto staccato e leggiero - Andante | Ballades (4) for piano, Op. 10: 3. Intermezzo. Allegro | Ballades (4) for piano, Op. 10: 4. Andante con moto

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