Search - Beethoven, Brandis Quartet :: Beethoven: String Quartets, Op. 18, Nos. 4, 5 & 6 / Brandis Quartet

Beethoven, Brandis Quartet
Beethoven: String Quartets, Op. 18, Nos. 4, 5 & 6 / Brandis Quartet
Genre: Classical

Track Listings (12) - Disc #1
1. String Quartet No. 4 in C minor, Op. 18/4: Allegro, ma non tanto
2. String Quartet No. 4 in C minor, Op. 18/4: Scherzo, Andante scherzoso, quasi Allegretto
3. String Quartet No. 4 in C minor, Op. 18/4: Menuetto, Allegretto
4. String Quartet No. 4 in C minor, Op. 18/4: Allegro
5. String Quartet No. 5 in A major, Op. 18/5: Allegro
6. String Quartet No. 5 in A major, Op. 18/5: Menuetto
7. String Quartet No. 5 in A major, Op. 18/5: Andante cantabile
8. String Quartet No. 5 in A major, Op. 18/5: Allegro
9. String Quartet No. 6 in B flat major, Op. 18/6: Allegro con brio
10. String Quartet No. 6 in B flat major, Op. 18/6: Adagio, ma non troppo
11. String Quartet No. 6 in B flat major, Op. 18/6: Scherzo, Allegro
12. String Quartet No. 6 in B flat major, Op. 18/6: La Malinconia, Adagio - Allegretto quasi Allegro

CD Details

All Artists: Beethoven, Brandis Quartet
Title: Beethoven: String Quartets, Op. 18, Nos. 4, 5 & 6 / Brandis Quartet
Members Wishing: 0
Total Copies: 0
Label: Nimbus Records
Release Date: 8/2/1994
Genre: Classical
Style: Chamber Music
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPCs: 710357535321, 083603535322

Synopsis

Amazon.com

For years the Nimbus label turned out such unlistenably echoey recordings that it's still necessary to check out the vintage of any Nimbus recording. This one is relatively recent and sounds just fine. The performances are fine too--vastly superior to an earlier Nimbus series by the Medici Quartet. In these early Beethoven Quartets, the Brandis offers a sensible alternative to the more driving approach of the Emerson Quartet, expansive and reflective without becoming slack. No one performance tells you everything you need to know about a Beethoven Quartet; this disc ranks among the most worthwhile opinions available. --Leslie Gerber

CD Reviews

A warm performance with well-judged tempos and tonal beauty

08/24/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"With the final three quartets of Opus 18 on this recording (Nos. 4-6), you get a lot of chamber music (over 75 minutes) on this CD. That could be good or bad, or both if we were presented with spotty renditions. Fortunately, the Brandis Quartet offers a consistently high-quality set of performances. The quartet had been together for 15 years when this 1993 recording was made. That time spent together shows in the harmony and sensitive interplay between the members. Thomas Brandis, the former concertmaster for the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, leads a group colleagues from the BPO and the university where he teaches. The performances are cultured with tempos well-suited for music which Beethoven wrote after a decade of living in one of the 19th Century, European centers of urbanity, Vienna. But don't assume cultured means boring. Listen to the Allegro in the A major Quartet (No. 5) for some exciting and fancy bow-work. The buoyancy and charm of the Haydn-like C minor quartet (No. 4) comes through in this recording by Nimbus. The recording field for these pieces is crowded with the likes of the Quartetto Italiano's and the Talich Quartet's older recordings, and the more-recent entries by the Tokyo String and Emerson Quartets. The Brandis Quartet's performance represents thoughtful, unglamorous music-making that gives deference to the composer's genius. In a field of tough-choices, this is a very good one."