Great Chamber Music Recordings

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Many Thanks, waldo, that's cleared it up perfectly.

[verismissimo]

The 'fragility' of those chromatic pitches is part of the charm and indeed the 'instress' ( to borrow a G.M. Hopkins word) of the piece!
Re. your queries:
An expert 'hand horn' player can cope very well with your cited pitches.
The 3rd note ( 'written C#' - sounding E in concert pitch) is simply 'bent' or 'pulled down' by the right hand and the lip, from the written 'D' - an 'open' natural 9th harmonic.
The written B is similarly derived ( by hand and lip) from the C ( 8th harmonic); the written A is derived from the rather flat Bb ( 7th harmonic).
All three pitches that you mention will sound rather 'veiled' or muffled but,. if properly / expertly played, will not have a nasty, strident, 'buzzing' tone quality that is sometimes associated with the natural / hand-horn when it is inexpertly played.

What a fantastic post, waldhorn. So knowledgeable and so clear. Brilliant.

[verismissimo]

Somebody was talking about the Brahms Trio very recently - they'd played it. I've been meaning to ask for some time, but now Waldhorn has answered it - Brahms actually wrote the work for an unvalved, natural Horn, then? How on earth do you get all the chromatics? The third note required is a C#, then there's a B and an A the bar later, lots of Eb s in the Transition - and so on and so on; many more pitches than the G CDE usually required from the unvalved horns of the late 18th, early 19th Centuries. Is there an "intermediate" instrument between non-valved and valved, or are these other notes meant to sound "fragile" (for want of a better word)?

Sorry to go OT, but I'll only forget again. It is a glorious work.

And what great questions, ferney.

[makropulos]

Here's a go at 10. As several posters have already said...impossible!

Beethoven: Quartet Op. 135, Busch Quartet
Brahms: Piano Trio in C major, Busch, Busch, Serkin
Brahms: Clarinet Quintet, Vienna Octet (either the mono or stereo version)
Fauré: Cello Sonata No. 1, Salque, Le Sage
Mendelssohn: Octet, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
Mozart: Divertimento K563, Grumiaux Trio
Poulenc: Cello Sonata, Fournier, Février
Ravel: Piano Trio, Trio di Trieste
Schubert: Quartet in G major D887, Quartetto Italiano
Schumann: Piano Quintet, Le Guay, Mandelring Quartet

[Barbirollians]

BeethovenArchduke/Schubert B Flat Piano Trio - Cortot,Thibuad, Casals
Beethoven Cello Sonatas 3 & 5 du pre/Kovacevich
Franck Violin Sonata/Szymanowski Mythes- Danczowska/Zimerman
Schoenberg Verklarte Nacht/Schubert Quintet-Hollywood String Quartet
Debussy/Ravel Quartets - Quartetto Italiano
Schubert Trout/ Death in the Maiden - Curzon/VP Quartet
Mozart & Beethoven Piano Quintets - Gieseking & Philharmonia Wind Quartet
Mozart & Schubert Music for Piano and Four Hands - Perahia/Lupu

[akiralx]

Schubert String Quintet - Melos/Rostro
Debussy Quartet - Melos
Brahms Piano Trio 1 - Pires/Dumay/Wang
Elgar Violin Sonata - Kennedy/Pettinger
Elgar Piano Quintet - Sorrel/Brown
Ravel Piano Trio - Roge/Kobayashi/Hasegawa

[richardfinegold]

An almost impossible choice, Richard, but I'll have a punt.

Borodin - String Quartet No.2 - Borodin Qt
Tchaikovsky - Souvenir de Florence - Borodin Qt & pals
Poulenc - Flute Sonata - Emmanuel Pahud, Eric le Sage
Ravel - String Quartet - Belcea Qt
Debussy - Trio for flute, viola & harp - Philippe Bernold, Gérard Caussé, Isabelle Moretti
Brahms - Clarinet Sonata No.2 - Martin Fröst & Roland Pöntinen
Mendelssohn - Clarinet Sonata - Charles Neidich & Robert Levin
Schubert - 'Trout' Quintet - Immerseel, Beths, Kussmaul, Bylsma, Danilow

Not the greatest chamber music ever, but repertoire - and performances - which mean much to me, with a Russian/ French bias. The Brahms and Mendelssohn are works I studied, whilst I've always loved French chamber music and could have filled my entire list with it - no room for Ravel's Violin Sonata, Debussy's Quartet... if I'm allowed a luxury item, could I have a flute, then I could learn Syrinx?!



Has Fröst recorded the Quintet?

Re Frost--I shouldn't post in the morning before having my coffee. I confused his Mozart recordings with Brahms. Many others have suggested good recordings of the Brahms Quintet here. My error.
I was not attempting a comprehensive list and greatly appreciate many of the other suggestions here, most particularly the Debussy Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp (one could easily add the RAvel Introduction and Allegro here); The Brahms Horn Trio, which I learned from the Perlman/Tuckwell/Azhkenazy recording; and the Schubert String Quintet. Every other post here mentions so many worthy choices.
I have heard it opined that certain prominent Composers--lets use Beethoven here as an example--were more likely to express their intimate side in Chamber Music, and their more "Public Side" in Symphonic works. Another way of putting that would be to say that a Symphony is a speech given to the world, but Chamber Music represents a few freidns gathered together for intimate ,personal conversation. Thoughts?

[BBMmk2]

There is so much good music in this genre. Too many to mention.

[aeolium]

I can't believe that no-one (AFAIK) has mentioned a single Haydn string quartet recording - there have surely been some exceptional ones. Particular favourites of mine are the Quartetto Italiano's disc of op 64 no 5 and op 76 no 2, and the Takacs' recording of the two op 77 quartets (and the old Griller quartet's recording of op 33 no 3).

Plenty of other fine works and recordings have already been mentioned by others, but I would also add the Mozart piano quartets played by Previn and the Musikverein Quartet, the Beethoven op 70 piano trios played by Perlman, Ashkenazy and Harrell and - for me, an astonishing tour de force of chamber music playing - the Schubert Arpeggione sonata played by Rostropovitch and Britten.

[Il Grande Inquisitor]

Re Frost--I shouldn't post in the morning before having my coffee. I confused his Mozart recordings with Brahms. Many others have suggested good recordings of the Brahms Quintet here. My error.

Ah, I had thought I'd missed out on a new release! I'd certainly welcome a Brahms' Quintet from Martin Fröst.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Too many, far too many.

But, to balance out the 19th Century:

The Kollichs playing Schoenberg.
The Tokyos playing Bartok.
The Pacificas playing Carter.
The Ardittis playing Ferneyhough.
John Tilbury and the Smith Quartet playing Feldman.
The Fitzwilliams playing Shostakovich.
Hesperion XX playing the Purcell Fantasias.
Rousset, Terakado & Uemura playing Rameau.

[richardfinegold]

Too many, far too many.

But, to balance out the 19th Century:

The Kollichs playing Schoenberg.
The Tokyos playing Bartok.
The Pacificas playing Carter.
The Ardittis playing Ferneyhough.
John Tilbury and the Smith Quartet playing Feldman.
The Fitzwilliams playing Shostakovich.
Hesperion XX playing the Purcell Fantasias.
Rousset, Terakado & Uemura playing Rameau.

Feldman is a taste that I haven't been able to acquire. Love the other choices, particularly the Fitzwilliams in the Shostakovich. If any of you on your side of the Pond were ever able to see them in Concert, I am very envious indeed. I have the Purcell and Rameau discs. I admire the Tokyo Bartok, but
I will always prefer the Emersons or the Julliard here. The Tokyo tends to smooth out to many edges that should stay rough and abrasive.

[richardfinegold]

I can't believe that no-one (AFAIK) has mentioned a single Haydn string quartet recording - there have surely been some exceptional ones. Particular favourites of mine are the Quartetto Italiano's disc of op 64 no 5 and op 76 no 2, and the Takacs' recording of the two op 77 quartets (and the old Griller quartet's recording of op 33 no 3).

Plenty of other fine works and recordings have already been mentioned by others, but I would also add the Mozart piano quartets played by Previn and the Musikverein Quartet, the Beethoven op 70 piano trios played by Perlman, Ashkenazy and Harrell and - for me, an astonishing tour de force of chamber music playing - the Schubert Arpeggione sonata played by Rostropovitch and Britten.

Who is your prefered Quartet for Haydn? I collected the Kodaly on Naxos, but I much prefer what I have heard from the Tokyo.

[verismissimo]

... Love the other choices, particularly the Fitzwilliams in the Shostakovich. If any of you on your side of the Pond were ever able to see them in Concert, I am very envious indeed.

Cheltenham cycle in the mid-1970s, Richard.

[Richard Tarleton]

If any of you on your side of the Pond were ever able to see them in Concert, I am very envious indeed.

Saw them about 4 years ago in Swansea. Only the viola player Alan George left from the original line-up!