Search - Schubert, Milman, Borodin Quartet :: String Quintet

A beautiful, assured reading that is also rather single-mind

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 12/14/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"The Borodin Qt. consists of players who have been together for decades, but after all that time they sound fresh and interested (something one can't always say about the Guarneri or Juilliard Qts, for example). Known for their relaxed unanimyt, gorgeous tone, and unaffected intensity, the Borodins display all those virtues here in the Schubert C Major Quintet with second cellist Misha Milman. This is an elusive masterpiece, and a listener runs across many interpretations that fail to plumb its emotional depths. There are strong contrasts in mood between serenity, haunted mystery, and anguish even within sisngle movements.



For me, the Borodins have selected a narrow band of response -- essentially optimistic, free-flowing, and bright. On their own terms, they carry off their interpretation beautifully, and it's to their credit that we can hear each player in his own voice, but I kept missing too much of Schubert's underlying emotional complexity. The work is so long that no single response can hold a listener's attention. You have to find a world inside this music, and the Borodins only find a small kingdom. My favorite reading in modern sound remains the one with Isaac Stern and Yo-Yo Ma on Sony. It's not as sweetly played or recorded as this release, but the emotional range is much wider.



P.S. Sept. 2009 - A later reviewer states categorically that this is a great recording, and perhaps the best on disc, so I had a relisten. Is till find a certain smooth, monochromatic quality to the emotions being expressed, but I should have given the Borodins four stars for their undoubted command of the medium. If someone else is wholeheartedly enthusiastic, I can't argue. To hear more struggle and variety, go to versions from the Marlboro Festival and in mono the classic recording led by Isaac Stern, also the Cleveland Qt. with Yo-Yo Ma and another Stern-led reading with Ma, the one I mentioned as my favorite."

My favorite.

Confusacat | California | 10/17/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Schubert String Quintet has long been regarded as one of the most sublime compositions in the entire classical repitoire. There is no shortage of interpretations of every caliber. My collection includes versions by The Fitzwilliam, Lindsay, Hollywood, Cleveland, Alban Berg string quartets, and the Raphael Ensemble (Hope I haven't left anyone out). This one, however, is the one I return to the most. To some it may not plumb the very deepest depths of desolation (Is that somewhere in the Mariana Trench?), --though I find it very sad-- but It certainly is my favorite. It demonstrates the greatest balance of all the virtues one could hope for in a recording: great musicianship, wonderful interpretation and excellent sound. If this version isn't the greatest of the great, the one you will love above all others, it will certainly hold you over until you find that needle in the haystack."

A Superb Quintet...

Sébastien Melmoth | Hôtel d'Alsace, PARIS | 09/06/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

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In terms of concept, performance, and recording techne, this issue is virtually perfect.

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