Yes, the sound of the piano is quite good. Perhaps my new TT will reveal a bit more room sound. There aren't many superbly recorded and wonderfully played sets of Brahms' Piano Trios on LP.
Now on the turntable, record 3 from "Schutz - Kleine Geistliche Konzerte, Book II (1639)" performed by the Westphalian Choral Ensemble led by Welhelm Ehmann on Nonesuch.
Now on the turntable, record 1 from "Minnesanger und Spielleute" performed by Studio Der Fruhen Musik led by Thomas Binkley on Teldec.
Now on the turntable, record 2 from "German Chamber Music Before Bach" performed by Musica Antiqua Koln led by Reinhard Goebel on Archiv. Buxtehude - Sonatas Pachelbel - Suites
Here's an oddity - I have two copies of the Trios from different Philips sets. Neither of them provides the recording date (although both provide the recording dates for other works in the set). I mention this because I think of the 1970s as the peak of Philips recordings. I have the Beaux Arts Trio from 1973 on Pentatone participating in the Brahms Piano Quartets, and that set sounds better. Edit - overall, I wouldn't rank either the Beaux Arts Trio or the Rubinstein/Fournier/Szeryng recordings of the Brahms Trios as a sonic wonder.
Thanks. I actually listened to them on Spotify and while I do like them more than the Alban Berg, I found through comparison (also on Spotify) that the Italiano is more to my taste. I still haven't ordered the Italiano, though, as I am hoping to find a set that I like even more. The Eder quartet on Naxos is my first and so far, my only set. When I compared them to the Italiano, I preferred the Eder. They have better sound and more lively tempos.
Among my favorite recordings of Mozart quartets is these done by Suske Quartet in the 70s. I have the LPs but IIRC these have been issued on cd by Berlin.
Glad to see the discussion has turned to the Mozart quartets. I'm in the market and need to know the best buy, plus which of them are considered 'essential'. The last ten, maybe?
Now playing: Franz Schubert – Divertissement à la hongroise for piano, 4 hands in G minor Op. 54 D.818, Variations on an Original Theme Op.82, D.603 (D.968a), Polonaises Op.61 D.824 — Lili Kraus, Homero de Magalhaes, pianos Franz Schubert – Sonata No.3 for violin & piano Op.137/3 D.408 — Lili Kraus, piano, Willi Boskovsky, violin (Erato/Warner Classics—Les Discophiles Français) From:
I'll second that, at least to a point--not really looking to buy a set right now, but will be glad to learn what to look for should I get into the market later. One recording that does lurk in my near term future: the Flonzaley Qtt. in no. 15, one of their relatively few "complete work" recordings. They did put down a fair number of individual Mozart mvts. during the acoustic era, however. (I've started a little project to transfer my Flonzaley recordings.)
Of those, I think the six devoted to Haydn (14-19) are the best. And do not overlook the string quintets (or the clarinet quintet). As we are speaking of Mozart's chamber music, here is a link to one of my favorite finds on the Internet (bearing in mind I play the clarinet). http://burrito.whatbox.ca:15263/img...ozart_-_Kegelstatt_Trio__K498_-autograph-.pdf It's a PDF of Mozart's manuscript for his Clarinet Trio (known as the Kegelstatt Trio as legend has it that he composed it while playing a game of skittles). Whatever the context of its composition, I find the absence of corrections fairly remarkable. One place where a correction may have been needed is on the last page of the second movement (p. 10). In the 4th measure of the clarinet part he has marked an F as a natural. There was no need for him to do that. My teacher is sure Mozart meant to mark it as F sharp (as he did to several F's later on). I have two recordings - on one the clarinet plays an F Sharp; on the other the clarinet plays F Natural.
The essential ones tend to be the later quartets. My Alban Berg set (used, like new, played once) covers this material and comes very highly recommended, but it is not to my taste. I plan to sell or trade my copy.
Just arrived last night from the mother nation...Nice balance without having the Mandolin being to overpowering or resonant.
For Mozart's Quartets, these three box sets are safe bets for beginners: I believe that the Quatuor Mosaiques, which is also a hip (which might or might not turn people off, I don't know), is oop but the other two are easily available.
Like the Emerson Quartet and the Alban Berg Quartett the Hagen Quartett are technically fine, but they too sound too sterile to me, they lack what makes the Quartetto Italiano so compelling: warmth. They (the Italians) and the HIP Quatuor Mosaïques are my top recommendations for the later Mozart string quartets.
I have this recent disc, 2014, of the 3 quartets dedicated to Joseph Haydn by Cuarteto Casals. It was favorably reviewed in Gramophone and Fanfare with words like clarity and even eloquent. There is minimal use of vibrato, so I don't know how much warmth it has. I will listen again. On Harmonia Mundi:
I like the Quartetto Italiano too! They are great! I understand the criticism about the Hagen, although I do not agree, but I can see how they can sound a bit clean and dry, like a reviewer wrote on Amazon. Hagen also plays the Mozart 16 on a sacd that came out on 2011 on the Myrios label. Supposedly this is better than the version on the old DG collection, but I haven't heard it.
Was able to grab a minty copy of this recently. Original owner signed and dated it "March 7, 1962". Sounds especially nice playing through a same era Fisher 500B and KLH Model Six speakers. The AR XA turntable was born a couple years later.
Yes, they use vibrato but not too much. What I like in their playing is that they have a sense of excitement and liveliness that perfectly fits Mozart IMO.
