# Brahms - String Quartet 1 op.51/1 (SQ review)



## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

A few months' listening to the Brahms 1st quartet yielded some interesting choices. Some terrific performances of this one.

Below is a live account by the
Belcea Quartet






Recommended

Alban Berg (EMI/Teldec) Artemis Budapest (1963). Brodsky Minuet LaSalle. Verdi Sine Nomine Vertavo Janacek. Vienna Artis Casals Ludwig Mandelring Hungarian New Budapest Cleveland Gabrielli Gringolts

*Well recommended*

*Italiano* - no surprises. Quality ensemble with great tonal beauty. Solidly classy.
Emerson - the rather flat, dry sound apart, this is a fine reading only let down by that recorded sound.
*Ebene* - with a bit more bite in the final movement this would have been at the very top.
*Chiara* - dynamic and stirring 'Brahms by heart'. An impressive achievement which plumbs the emotional depths of this quartet .
*Vogler* - a quite lovely, Germanic account with lots of beautiful inner detail.
*Atrium* - vivid and full recording that is especially captivating in the early movements.
*Spektral* - this one came from nowhere but a very pleasant surprise that is beautifully recorded.
*Skampa* - bouncy and buoyant and I love their finale.
*Tokyo* - solid and perfectly played. Every movement is of the highest quality.
*Belcea* (EMI) / Alpha) - both accounts are quick, vivacious and gritty and as good as each other.
*Amadeus* - OK the recording is slightly showing it's age but there's so much wonderful playing here. Rich, sparkling and rewarding.
*Psophos* - another quartet who continue to surprise me. They judge this just right especially towards the end.
*Carmina* - convincing and warm account only lacking in a degree of urgency.
*Auryn* - as usual, total commitment, beauty and a lovely recorded sound. Impressive.

*Special

Dudok* - I'm warming with each listen to those gut strings. This is an interesting new recording in lovely sound.
*New Orford* - a more sonorous, tense performance that's so well played and captured in a lovely acoustic.
*Arcanto* - leaner than many it didn't stop me falling for the Arcanto's glorious tone. A bit more bass in the mix and this would have been in the top few.
*Takacs* (1990) - classy, harder-edged and agile but slightly surpassed by their later stellar effort
*Leipziger* - perfect balance of aggresion and control and the recording sounds so natural, realistic and full.
*Borodin* - this got me from the off. Imposing, authorative and so well engineered. The Borodins play with an earnestness that I found captivating.
*Strada* - an excellent live recording full of tension and hairpin dynamics. Another that came from nowhere.
*Juilliard* - an ascerbic, volatile reading full of life and movement. Yes, the recording is odd and a bit resonant but the level of commitment is still superb and there's simply not a dull moment.

*Top Picks

Quiroga* - I've not heard anyone play this quartet as convincingly. Superb dynamics, ravishing tone, a sexy recording, fine internal rhythms and exceptional balances mark this out as a keeper. Immense.

*Takacs* (Hyperion) - taking the Auryn's vivacious playing and adding in sensational dynamics the Takacs turn in a quartet masterclass. It takes some recording to upstage their earlier account but this one does. Quite simply one of the best quartet recordings you're likely to hear, anywhere.

*Alexander* - this fresh and remarkably enticing 2021 release came late to tte party but boy did it cheer this party up! Tight, well-controlled vibrato, less romantic reading this is Brahms a million miles away from any of those hyper-romantic recordings but it's not cold. It's sensational.

So many high quality recordings. Anything from the top three groups is superb in some way.


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