Piano quartets

"And however well played it is, the full-orchestra version of the Chamber Symphony can never generate the same sinewy intensity as the original, with its single strings and wind, that Rattle opted for previously. The late Accompaniment to a Film Scene, effectively a miniature tone poem, is new to his Schoenberg discography, though, and superbly played by the Berlin Phil, with Rattle encapsulating perfectly its concentrated drama".

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"As a young ensemble, the Milander Quartet shows promise in many areas. It clearly involves talented performers, and on the whole their interpretations nicely balance vigor with solemnity. There are some less favorable characteristics to their playing, however. For one, the Milanders seem not to have yet found a unified, well-blended tone".

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"There's certainly no lack of beautiful tone in this collection of performances ... The Mahler that begins their disc ... provides the perfect introduction to the warmly expressive world of the Schumann and Brahms works that follow. Unfortunately, its relaxed, expansive mood seems to pervade those works, too; there's a lack of urgency and assertiveness that robs the Schumann of its muscularity and purpose, and the Brahms of its rigour and gutsiness".

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"The four participants move instinctively with the music and with one another, the piano (Schumann's own instrument) blending in rather than dominating. The fugal flurries of the finale are articulated with terrific panache and togetherness ... The affinity with style that shines through the Schumann is equally evident in Brahms's G minor Piano Quintet".

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"Selvom der er puttet lidt rigeligt pomade i Schönbergs orkestrering af Brahms' første klaverkvartet, er stiløvelsen udsøgt - især når Rattle og det fine følge giver den dramatisk kant som her ... Udgaverne er spændstige nok i lyden, men også en anelse anonyme".

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"Det er smukt, inderligt og uhyre sammenspillet. Man ånder med de fire musikere. Men man får ikke åndenød, for der mangler lidt vildskab og råhed. Det er ydmygt og til tider dragende følsomt. Men Brahms er ikke ydmyg ... Cd'en indleder med den eneste sats, som Mahler skrev for de fire instrumenter. Den løfter det hele, og Mahlers længsel og tristesse er her flot ramt".

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"Der er gennem tiderne ikke komponeret forfærdelig mange klaverkvartetter ... så man skal være taknemlig for en nyudgivet cd med tre spændende værker fra den romantiske æra ... [Her] er tale om en liveoptagelse fra marts i år, hvor de fire musikere henrykkede et publikum i Lincoln Center på Manhattan i New York ... Spillet med flugt og glød. Romantisk kammermusik, når den er mest fængende".

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"Der er ikke mange violinister, der forstår at blande kortene så godt som britiske Daniel Hope ... sammen med sin lille gruppe af topmusikere. Udfordringen er tre klaverkvartetter, og den bliver løst med en udsøgt fornemmelse for den intime kunsts guldrandede melodilinjer og bølgende lydlandskaber. Ladet med intense vibrationer gør Schumanns kvartet i Es-dur stort indtryk".

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"Collectors wanting this coupling can buy with confidence. The competition, though, is numerous and strong, and there are several versions that make a more powerful impact ... But som may well prefer the Nash player's less sensational approach".

"Daniel Hope and his colleagues turn in well-paced readings of all three scores - their expressive intensity heightened by the almost gypsy-style vibrato favoured by Hope himself: highly appropriate to the riotous Hungarian finale of the Brahms and imparting an almost Klezmer-like feeling to the violin flourish at the end of the Mahler".