# Your Favorite Brahms Chamber Recordings



## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

Please share your favorite Brahms chamber music recordings, and if you feel like it include why you prefer the recording. Now I realize this is technically a different category of music, but for the purpose of this thread I am also interested in Brahms solo piano recordings so if you want please share your thoughts on these as well. 

Exactly what pieces constitute Brahms 'late piano pieces'? The ones I seem to enjoy the most are the Op. 76 Intermezzos and the op. 116-119.


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## Dirge (Apr 10, 2012)

*Piano Sonata No. 3 in F minor, Op. 5*
:: A. Fischer [BBC Legends, live from Edinburgh 1961]
Brahms's somewhat wild and woolly F-minor Sonata is a touchy work to put across (or so it seems to me): reign it in too much, play it too formally and strictly, and you break its spirit; loosen the reigns too much, let it get away from you, and it devolves into an amorphous blob with not enough form/structure for the listener to latch on to. For me, Fischer gets the balance just right and manages to get the best of both worlds, and hers is the only recording of the work that I listen to these days. (I'm not really a fan of this work, so this might be an account of the Brahms F-minor Sonata for those who don't normally cotton to the Brahms F-minor Sonata.)

*Horn Trio in E-flat major, Op. 40*
:: Brain, Salpeter & Preedy [BBC Legends]
This performance is more intricate and interactive than the famous Bloom/Tree/Serkin Marlboro account [CBS], featuring a more flexible and yielding piano line throughout, with the horn and violin taking more responsibility for how things go. Bloom's sound is more open and expansive than Brain's, but Brain produces a richer and more complex sound, and his playing is more nimbly inflected and detailed. Preedy gives a more flexible and varied account of the piano part than does Serkin, interacting with his partners in a more democratic, chamber music-like way. Preedy is less prominent than Serkin, but I find his playing to be more interesting and imaginative. I also find Salpeter's playing to be a more interesting and imaginative than Tree's, especially in the Adagio, and he produces a richer tone to boot. As a team, they are extremely well matched and complementary, and though I have a soft spot for Bloom's unique playing in the Marlboro account, I have no qualms about dubbing this my favorite performance of the Horn Trio.

*Piano Quartet No. 3 in C minor, Op. 60*
:: Brandis, Christ, Borwitzky & Vásáry [DG] or Fauré Quartett [DG]
The Fauré performance is at once intricate and dramatic. The overall sonority is a touch lean, but it's not mean or lacking richness/complexity, and excellent internal balances and interplay allow the German (despite the "Fauré" name) players to weave some almost gossamer textures of a kind rarely heard in Brahms. Climaxes aren't as weighty and powerful as some, but the group's excellent dramatic sense allows it to make the most of what sound it does produce. This is a fine complement to my trusty old reference recording by Vásáry and three members of the BPO [DG], which is less inflected and intricate but more sonorous and naturally flowing, with great momentum in the fast movements.

*Rhapsody in G minor, Op. 79/2*
:: Moravec [Nonesuch LP] or Argerich [DG]
Moravec's performance couldn't be more naturally flowing or beautifully phrased, but he plays just a smidgeon too gently. Argerich brings just the right amount of force and angularity to the table, but I find myself missing Moravec's flow and singing phrasing and tend to favor his account. Either way, you can't go far wrong with one or the other (or both) of these two recordings.

*String Quintet No. 2 in G major, Op. 111*
:: Boston Symphony Chamber Players [Nonesuch]
This wonderfully spirited performance is downright radiant in the music's sunny, exuberant first movement, with an excellent sense of sweep and momentum to carry you along. The work's darker, more inward middle movements are beautifully phrased without any indulgent lingering or sentimentality, being more affecting for not being affected. Through and through, this is one of those to-the-manner-born performances that's just so right that it makes others seem wrong somehow.

*Clarinet Quintet in B minor, Op. 115*
:: Neidich, Juilliard Quartet [Sony]
This is a moderately paced, tightly knit, highly wrought affair that relies more on structure and integrity and less on sonic beguiling than any other account that I've heard. Neidich's playing is as scrupulous and intelligent as it could be, yet there's nothing at all fussy or affected about it; indeed, it's quite elegant and eloquent in its way, and he balances the soloist-teammate aspects of his part ideally. For their part, the Juilliards play with a level of focus and involvement that makes other quartets sound like mere accompanists, and the integration of Neidich into the fold is total. As a result, the work here sounds substantially more substantial and quintet-like (rather than mini clarinet concerto-like) and has more cumulative impact than any other performance I've heard. If the general feel of the proceedings is more abstract and less "autumnal" than usual, it's no less beautiful or affecting for it, and there's a concentrated level of inner life and energy/activity found here that's not matched in other performances.

*10 Intermezzi ~ Opp. 76/6 & 7; 116/4; 117/1, 2 & 3; 118/1, 2 & 6; 119/1*
:: Gould [Columbia/Sony]
Gould's playing of these intermezzi is more angular and note-discrete than usual, and yet there's still a nice sense of flow about it. The atmosphere is a bit gray and overcast, and Gould occasionally milks the clock and draws things out a bit too much, but there's a certain tension and suspense about the playing that keeps me listening.

*3 Intermezzi, Op. 117*
:: Moravec [Nonesuch LP]
This is a product of Moravec's early '80s NYC recording sessions with producer/engineer Max Wilcox, which resulted in four superb albums: Janacek, Schumann/Brahms (both for Nonesuch), Chopin, and Debussy (both for Vox). The Intermezzi are here taken a bit slower than usual, but the music is more than well sustained throughout owing to Moravec's unflagging focus & concentration and unerring sense of timing; indeed, it's the latter that perhaps impresses me most in this relatively sparing, rarefied music, which leaves the pianist's timing utterly exposed and with no place to hide. Add to that Moravec's elegantly singing phrasing, ultra-refined touch, and judicious weighting/balancing of lines and you've got an Op. 117 recording that's well-nigh impossible to beat.


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## Andolink (Oct 29, 2012)

Some of my picks:

Piano Trios: Trio Wanderer on Harmonia Mundi
late piano pieces: Nicholas Angelich on Virgin Classics
String Quintets: Takács Quartet w/ Lawrence Power on Hyperion
Violin Sonatas: Korol & Grigorieva on Challenge Classics
String Quartets: Takács Quartet on Hyperion
String Sextet No. 2, Op. 36: Hausmusik London on Signum
Piano Quartets: Leopold String Trio w/ Marc Andre Hamelin on Hyperion


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

G major Sextet, Music from Marlboro crew. Haunting.


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## jenspen (Apr 25, 2015)

Thankyou Dirge for your excellent and detailed list. I'm not familiar with the performances you mention though I have all Rubinstein's Brahms, including the chamber music, and my beloved Alban Berg Quartet's take on some. So, just those I've been listening to lately, and loved:

*Horn Trio in E-flat major, Op. 40*

The Florestan Trio with Stephen Stirling - hyperion CDA672512/2 - a set of CDs which includes 4 other trios.

*Clarinet Quintet in B minor, Op. 115*

Soloists from the Berlin Phil. Apex 0927 44350 2

Another another work:

*Piano Quartet op.25*

Emil Gilels with the Amadeus Quartet DG 447 407-2


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Two Clarinet Sonatas. Harold Wright, the late great principal clarinet of the Boston Symphony during its glory days of the 1960's accompanied on piano by Harris Goldsmith, the late great distinguished music critic and terrific pianist in his own right.

This is a must!!!


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## Bruckner Anton (Mar 10, 2016)

"Brahms' late piano pieces" means his op.116-119. BTW, his op.10 and op.79 are also quite good and popular.

Personal recommendation on part of his chamber music in stereo era:
1. Complete sets: on Philips and Hyperion. Philips' set is generally better, though I remembered it did not include the FAE sonata.
2. String sextets: Amadeus DG (no repetition).
3. Clarinet quintet: Alban berg + Meyer EMI, Amadeus + Leister DG. Meyer did an excellent job shifting timbres of the instrument for different purposes throughout. Amadeus's reading is almost flawless.
4. Piano quintet: Italiano + Pollini, needless to say.
5. Piano trios: besides Beaux Arts Trio's versions, I would recommend Katchen + Suk + Starker on Decca. Very expressive reading.
His string quartets, piano quartets and cello sonatas have many top-notched recordings, so I would not further elaborate.


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

Bruckner Anton said:


> "Brahms' late piano pieces" means his op.116-119.


This is what I thought, but recently realized I was grouping other works in (like the op. 76) with the late pieces in my mind for some reason, they have a similar character. I like them both a lot and many of his other piano works as well like the Ballades.


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## Bettina (Sep 29, 2016)

I have a Van Cliburn CD of selected piano works by Brahms, called "My Favorite Brahms." I realize that Van Cliburn is not primarily known for his interpretations of Brahms (he's more associated with composers like Tchaikovsky). But it's one of my favorite Brahms recordings.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Bettina said:


> I have a Van Cliburn CD of selected piano works by Brahms, called "My Favorite Brahms." I realize that Van Cliburn is not primarily known for his interpretations of Brahms (he's more associated with composers like Tchaikovsky). But it's one of my favourite Brahms recordings.


The man is a genius.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Some more favorite Brahms chamber music performances:

Piano Trios 1 & 2-Jerusalem Trio

Piano Quartets (3)-Menuhin Festival Piano Quartet

String Sextets-Hausmusik London

String Quintets-Boston Symphony Chamber Players

String Quintets-Nash Ensemble

Piano Quintet-Gloria Saarinen, Orford String Quartet

All of these performances have given me much pleasure.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

I left out one of the greatest of all Brahms chamber performances:

Piano Quintet-Barry Douglas, Tokyo String Quartet.

White hot!!


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