Brahms: String Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Op. 51 No. 2

“A whole lot of beauty in a compact form”: such was the verdict of Theodor Billroth, the dedicatee of the first two quartets by Johannes Brahms. The members of the Gürzenich Quartet accomplish the artistic feat of conveying this beauty in sound without obliging the public – as Billroth had recommended – to prepare for the listening experience with the score and at the piano.

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.

Having won many competitions (in 2009 the quartet not only won First Prize in the Eleventh London International String Quartet Competition, but its performance was so convincing that it was awarded four additional prizes; The 20th Century Prize, the Beethoven Prize, the Sidney Griller Award and the Menton Festival Prize), C-Avi is delighted to release this disc of Haydn and Brahms String Quartets. Although this is obviously well-recorded repertoire, their performance is absolutely exhilirating and well worth listening to!

Brahms’ standing among the world’s greatest classical composers is confirmed by his inclusion, together with Bach and Beethoven, in the ‘Three Bs’ triumvirate. A leading figure of the Romantic period who excelled in almost every form, he was particularly renowned for his contributions to chamber music; this release details four such examples, all expertly performed by the Juilliard Quartet.

As with the symphony, Brahms was very conscious of the tradition that lay behind the genre of the string quartet, and it is said that he spent the better part of a decade working on Op.51. While No.1 is known for its gritty intensity – brilliantly captured in this recording – No.2, which looks back to Beethoven’s Op.18 through its first movement’s impeccable sonata-allegro form, was written along altogether more lyrical lines. The work presents an engaging follow-up to the experimental Third Quartet in Bb major and is wonderfully complemented by the ensuing Clarinet Quintet Op.115. Here a spirit of mellow reflection comes to the fore, providing a perfect ending to a delightful collection.

The Juilliard String Quartet is one of the longest establishd chamber ensembles, renowned for the interpretative clarity of a range of repertoire from Beethoven to Elliott Carter, and their account of these works – some of Brahms’ most famous – has been described as ‘the stuff of charismatic greatness’. Featuring exemplary playing from clarinettist Neidich, this compilation brims with colour and expression.

Recorded in the 1990s.

Last year the Juilliard Quartet received a Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement.

The members of this quartet are all young Polish musicians and this is their debut CD. The quartet was founded in 2006 in Vienna and has performed in some of Europe’s most important concert halls including the Berlin Philharmonic and the Wigmore Hall.

Brahms laboured long and hard over the composition of his string quartets but the effort paid off in abundance with resulting masterpieces of the chamber music repertoire. The Auryn Quartet were formed in 1981.They have an exclusive contract with TACET and have recorded music by Beethoven, Haydn and Britten, receiving many awards and international critical acclaim.