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See Terms & Conditions for p&p rates. | |  | Brahms: String Quartet & Clarinet Quintet
Brahms's implacable self-criticism was at its height in the domain of chamber music: he was already 40 when he produced this Second String Quartet (of three) after two decades of rejected attempts, which only makes its formal perfection and intense lyricism all the more striking. In the case of the Quintet Op.115, it was a meeting with the clarinettist Mühlfeld that inspired him to emerge from his self-imposed retirement to compose this almost unbearably nostalgic musical testament, five years before his death. The Jerusalem Quartet was founded in 1993, and from 1999 to 2001 were BBC New Generation Artists; in 2003 it was the recipient of the first Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award, currrently celebrating its tenth anniversary year. Now regular guests in the world’s leading concert halls, notably in the United States, the Jerusalems perform with such artists as Alexander Melnikov, Lawrence Power and Sharon Kam. The quartet’s discography on harmonia mundi has won many international awards. Its interpretation of Schubert’s ‘Death and the Maiden’ Quartet won a Diapason d’Or of the Year in 2008 and an ECHO Klassik award in 2009, while its most recent release, Schumann’s Piano Quintet and Quartet, received distinctions from BBC Music Magazine, Scherzo and Télérama. The Quartet is very grateful to Daniel Barenboim who generously loans Jacqueline du Pré's ‘Sergio Perresson’ cello to Kyril Zlotnikov. After her debut with the Israel Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta at the age of 16, Sharon Kam was encouraged and mentored by Isaac Stern. She later graduated from the Juilliard School of Music, where she studied with Charles Neidich. Sharon Kam regularly collaborates with such colleagues as Heinrich Schiff, Christian Tetzlaff, Antje Weithaas, and Tabea Zimmermann. She often plays recitals with the pianist Lars Vogt and is a regular guest at his Spannungen festival in Heimbach, Germany, as well as other festivals like Verbier, Risør, Cork and Delft. “Kam plays the work beautifully, and is thoroughly musical in understanding when to merge with the strings and provide an enrichening of the accompaniment rather than be the soloist...This is a gentle, lyrical performance, of 'late' music by a great composer” International Record Review, May 2013 “an interpretation [of the Quartet] that displays breathtaking homogeneity of ensemble, subtle textural control and marvellous fluidity of nuance...Kam takes infinite care to blend her wonderfully mellifluous clarinet line within the string texture, rather than opt for a more soloistic approach” BBC Music Magazine, June 2013 **** “Few command Brahms's string quartets the way the Jerusalem do here in Op. 51 No. 2...Joined by Sharon Kam in the Clarinet Quintet, the Jerusalem exude an even greater sense of freedom with much more give and take within any given tempo. Kam has lovely warm tone and seamless legato, but what sets her apart from her contemporaries is her chemistry with the quartet.” Gramophone Magazine, June 2013 | 
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| |  | Brahms: Quintets Opp. 34 & 115
The Tokyo String Quartet is joined by pianist jon Nakamatsu and clarinetist Jon Manasse in these Brahms masterpieces dating from two very different periods in his life: the tumultuous Piano Quintet, Op.34 - the work of an ambitious young man - and the Clarinet Quintet Op.115, an autumnal serenade by an experienced master. The journey between these two milestones was one marked by criticism, soul searching and ultimate triumph. This is the penultimate recording from the Tokyos. Next May will see their Dvorak and Smetana offering, also on hybrid SACD. “Here is a glorious set of performances that find its way onto somebody’s Pick of the Year list (certainly mine). The immaculate and wise Tokyo String Quartet are joined by two American soloists, clarinetist Jon Manasse and pianist Jon Nakamatsu, in pristine and moving performances … an important and revealing new recording of two great and very different masterpieces.” The Herald (Glasgow), 4th November 2012 “Nakamatsu and the Tokyo String Quartet are on fine form … playing with an effortless command and sophistication that reveal details of texture and articulation … [a] beautifully played, radiantly engineered performance that is especially alluring in the SACD’s surround sound.” The Strad, December 2012 “both works receive performances that understand and warmly identify with Brahms's intentions: the playing is expressive and there is an obvious love of the music throughout. The Tokyo Quartet players, in both, are a rock-steady basis for the ensemble, and the two soloists...temper virtuosity with a fine sense of their role as an integral part of a chamber group.” BBC Music Magazine, Christmas 2012 **** “the extraordinary homogeneity of sound that comes from a complete quartet of matching instruments is most apparent [in the Piano Quintet]...[the Clarinet Sonata] does occasionally suffer from being a little muscled along. However, the beauty of the blend is so total that it is not difficult to put that to the back of your mind and allow yourself to be mesmerised by the overall perfection” Gramophone Magazine, December 2012 “This is a fine version of this masterpiece [Clarinet Quintet].” International Record Review, December 2012 “What lovely music this is and how elegantly both pieces are played here” MusicWeb International, 12th February 2013 | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Brahms by Arrangement Volume 1
Brahms: | Piano Quintet in F minor, Op. 34 String Quintet: Original version of the Piano Quintet, op.34, reconstructed by Anssi Kartunen Clarinet Quintet in B minor, Op. 115 Two –viola version of the Clarinet Quintet by the composer. |
Krysia Osostowicz (violin), James Boyd (viola) & Richard Lester (cello) Zebra String Trio Brahms first wrote his Op. 34 as a string quintet before recasting it for two pianos and then as the version for piano quintet known today. In this imaginative reconstruction as a string quintet by the Finnish cellist Anssi Karttunen, the Zebra Trio is joined by some of Britain’s most outstanding stringplayers, allowing modern listeners to hear a version of the work in textures closer to Brahms’ original thoughts. It is coupled in this recording by Brahms’ own rarely heard version of the Clarinet Quintet, Op. 115, as a string quintet, with a viola replacing the clarinet. “the Piano Quintet in F minor Op 34 had begun life as a quintet for strings alone...What's recorded here is a speculative reconstruction of that original quintet by Anssi Karttunen, cellist of the Zebra Trio; it's paired here with an all-strings version of the Clarinet Quintet Op 115” The Guardian, 5th July 2012 **** “Anssi Karttunen of the Zebra Trio has done a heroic job in attemptin to recreate the work in its original guise...Although there are some moment of speculative intonation, these vivid and clearly recorded performances offer fascinating perspectives on some very familiar music.” BBC Music Magazine, November 2012 *** “This is the kind of disc that makes the most jaded listener sit up straight and pay attention: marvellous music, compellingly performed and beautifully produced...The result is as exciting a disc of chamber music as I have heard this year.” MusicWeb International, June 2012 | | | (also available to download from $10.50) | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Grieg & Brahms: Introspective / Retrospective
The Hagen Quartet won the ECHO KLASSIC award in 2011 in the Ensemble of the Year category, for their previous release on myrios classics (Hagen Quartett 30 MYR 006). Here they present the second release commemorating their 30th anniversary and perform Grieg’s introspective String Quartet and Brahms’ retrospective Clarinet Quintet with Jörg Widmann. “any doubts as to the originality, vision and coherence of Grieg's turbulent score are immediately dispelled in this revelatory performance. The Hagen Quartet approach the music with no preconceptions, bringing an astonishingly fresh, imaginative control of sonority and a subtle variety of texture to each section...This is an outstanding release in every respect.” BBC Music Magazine, May 2012 “It would be hard to imagine a finer version of the sadly neglected Grieg Quartet...What is so winning is the natural, unforced flexibility of the Hagen's playing in the Grieg, making it sound totally idiomatic...In the Brahms, Widmann's clarinet is first among equals...Above all, the performance brings out the mellow, Brahmsian warmth of this late work.” Gramophone Magazine, August 2012  BBC Music Magazine
Chamber Choice - May 2012 |
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| |  | Fitzwilliam String Quartet Play Schubert, Brahms & Wolf
One of the most gorgeous recorded versions of Schubert’s String Quintet is now available once more, after its relatively short-lived release as a full-price CD. The cellist was Christopher van Kampen, with whom the Fitzwilliams performed often. Appearing on CD for the first time is the Quartet’s recording of the Brahms Clarinet Quintet, with Alan Hacker (who sweeps away any of the work’s ‘autumnal’ associations, emphasizing, rather, its Zigeuner elements) – one of Britain’s finest performers described by Alan George in his introductory note as ‘totally inspirational and revelatory in everything he did and touched, based on an obsessively enquiring and probing mind, allied to a flair in performance which, at its best, could have listeners eating out of his hands’. Wolf’s little Italian Serenade too makes a first appearance on CD. Alan George writes introductory notes and in addition to his note on the Schubert String Quintet and Wolf’s Italian Serenade, and Alan Hacker’s on the Brahms Clarinet Quintet, is a fascinating essay by Wilfrid Mellers entitled ‘Schubert’s Dream of Eden’. As well there is a biography of the Fitzwilliam Quartet and a note on their Decca recording team. “This is a thoughtful performance … In the first movement the cellos play that marvellous second subject as Schubert wanted it, pianissimo, resisting the temptation to show off their tone mezzo-forte; and very lovely it sounds. The whole ensemble responds with unusual skill when Schubert asks for a diminuendo when the music is already pp, and that takes some doing. But there is plenty of vigour for contrast.” Gramophone Magazine (Schubert) “This is a very sensitive performance of the Brahms in which just about everything seems to go well. The first movement has arguably exactly the right degree of forward pressure without losing any of its reflective beauty; the second catches exactly the right degree of Hungarian style for the passages based on that. In the third movement the wisps of sound are thrown off with exceptional skill. […] Overall, this performance is among the very best.” Gramophone Magazine (Brahms) “a splendidly lively reading” Gramophone Magazine (Wolf) “finely paced and beautifully integrated” Penguin Guide (Brahms) “a sparkling account … well-defined recording” Penguin Guide *** (Wolf) “a reading exceptionally faithful to Schubert’s markings, yet one which with freshness and seeming spontaneity conveys the work’s masterly power and impulse too […] The reading overall is deeply thoughtful, never exaggerated in expressiveness, but naturally compelling […] The recording is superbly full and atmospheric and has remarkable presence” Penguin Guide *** | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Brahms & Mozart: Clarinet Quintets
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| |  | Brahms & Mozart: Clarinet Quintets
Alfred Boskovsky (clarient) Vienna Octet Recording locations: Decca Studios, West Hampstead, London, September 1954 (Mozart); Sofiensaal, Vienna, Austria, April 1961 (Baermann); Grosser Saal, Musikverein, Vienna, Austria, June 1953 (Brahms) This recording forms part of a series of 10 reissues celebrating the glorious Decca recordings from the 1950s-1970s of the Wiener Oktett (Vienna Octet), made up of key principals from the Wiener Philharmoniker and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra. Both Clarinet Quintets on this disc are late works of the respective composers and both were inspired by key clarinetists of their time: Mozart’s by Anton Stadler, Brahms’s by Richard Mühlfeld. Each of these versions represents the first recordings of these pieces by the Wiener Oktett, with Alfred Boskovsky, one of its members, as solo clarinetist. Heinrich Joseph Baermann was a soldier turned oboist turned clarinettist and is now remembered for a single work – an Adagio, published in 1926 as a work by Wagner. It was so described when this 1961 recording was first issued. The Brahms and Mozart recordings here make their first appearance on Decca CD. This release is accompanied by extensive notes on the lineage of these pieces, a brief history of the evolution of clarinet playing and documentation on the musicians by renowned commentator Tully Potter. “timelessly fresh – their sense of tradition lightly worn” Gramophone “here is a winner ; the strings play, throughout, as beautifully as the clarinet” [Brahms] Gramophone “Boskovsky’s performance is round-toned, fluent, musical, and without vibrato” [Mozart] Gramophone “polished suavity” BBC Music Magazine, Christmas 2010 **** | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Mozart & Brahms: Clarinet Quintets
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| |  | Brahms - Clarinet Quintet & Trio
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“Here is a Double Concerto to listen to again and again. Not least because it is rather unusual. The Capuçon brothers are accomplished chamber musicians and they often dig into this music as though in a chamber concert, taking time to explore, passing ideas between themselves. It doesn’t displace the recent Fischer/Müller-Schott, but sits alongside” James Inverne, Gramophone Magazine “Gautier Capuçon launches into the opening cello solo with a rhapsodic freedom and expressive abandon that seems to sweep all before it. The performance is outstanding” The Guardian “…here's a very fine reading of Brahm's Double Concerto from the stellar young Capuçon brothers. The other striking aspect about this performance is the sheer range of colour, not only from the soloists but also from the Mahler Youth Orchestra, who play their hearts out for Myung-Whun Chung in this most symphonic of concertos.” Gramophone Magazine, February 2008 “The stellar young Capuçon brothers seem incapable of setting a foot wrong on disc and they put their considerable chamber-music experience to great use in Brahms's final orchestral work, with cellist Gautier Capuçon proving an eloquent lead in the vehement first movement.
The other striking aspect about this performance is the sheer range of colour, not only from the soloists but also from the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra, who play their hearts out for Myung-Whun Chung in this most symphonic of concertos. If Oistrakh and Fournier are still irresistible in the slow movement, offering a perfect balance of melodic lines that are lovingly cherished but never saccharine, the Capuçons are still very impressive, and their finale is full of vitality, making much of the folk-tinged inflections and achieving a seemingly telepathic unanimity in their shared passages.
For a change from the usual concerto companion we get Brahms's Clarinet Quintet, written in 1891, four years after the Double Concerto. In this coupling it's easy to hear the Quintet's famous autumnal quality prefigured in the outer sections of the concerto's Andante.
Paul Meyer is an ideal protagonist, producing a wide array of mellow shadings in the opening movement, yet never underplaying the more agitated passages within the piece, notably the Presto of the third movement. The quartet are minutely responsive to Meyer's every move and even seasoned Brahms aficionados will find new detail to relish in both the performances here.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010 | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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Gramophone Magazine