Stephen Pritchard 

Brahms: Complete String Quartets/Piano Quintet review – a breath of fresh air

The 'uncanny ability' of the players throws new light on familiar features of Brahms's chamber work, writes Stephen Pritchard
  
  


Like opening the curtains on a sunny morning, this recording throws fresh light on the familiar features of Brahms's beguiling chamber music. The glorious Piano Quintet in F minor, Op 34, considered the culmination of his "first maturity", bursts with confidence, the Gringolts and Peter Laul fully conscious of its soaring, symphonic ambition. The mysteriously troubled third movement of the String Quartet in C minor, Op 51 No 1, and the brilliant opening of the String Quartet in B flat major, Op 76, are high points to treasure and while the Gringolts may not have quite the sheen of, say, the Jerusalem Quartet, they have an uncanny ability to shape an elegant line and make you listen anew.

 

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