Early, Classical and Beyond

STRINGS ATTACHED - October 2011

This month I’m catching up on a backlog of solo recital CDs.

Analekta has issued a beautiful 2CD set of the Bach Six Cello Suites on Viola by the outstanding English violist Helen Callus (AN 2 9968-9). Five of the Suites are in the original keys, while No. 6 is transposed up a 4th from D major to G major, apparently to enable Callus to retain more of Bach’s open-string effects. The move away from the cello tessitura – the viola is tuned one octave higher – gives the works an added brightness and a quite different feel. Callus maintains a beautiful sense of line, and handles the multiple-stopping and contrapuntal elements quite effortlessly. Recorded at Domaine Forget’s Salle Françoys-Bernier in Saint-Irénée, Quebec last year, the sound is warm and resonant.

A direct comparison is provided by the Avie Records 2CD set of the Six Suites performed on Baroque cellos (although one is from 1798) by Tanya Tomkins (AV2212). The playing here seems a bit slower and more contemplative, with a tone quality closer to a viola da gamba than a cello, but I found that it didn’t hold my interest over extended listening: I had no problem listening to the Callus set from start to finish, but couldn’t do it here. Perhaps the lack of a strong sense of pulse, particularly in the dance movements, contributed to that. Don’t get me wrong though – this is thought-provoking, intelligent and carefully measured playing, albeit somewhat cool and with not the same life or spirit as the viola set – or perhaps more accurately, with a different spirit. Tomkins’ Benvenue Trio co-member Eric Zivian composed a double for the Sarabande in the Suite No.6.

You don’t have to read the booklet notes for the Linn 2CD set of the Bach Sonatas & Partitas for Solo Violin by Pavlo Beznosiuk (CKD 366) to realize that this is another performance by a Baroque specialist – the thin high register, the sparse vibrato, and the overall lack of a big sound make it obvious from the opening bars. Again, though, this is clearly a very personal and thoughtful interpretation. Tempos are not fast, but the dance movements in the Partitas are never allowed to drag. Beznosiuk makes some interesting choices with variations in some of the repeats, as well as with the inner workings of the chordal sections; he also changes or omits the occasional note from the standard editions, but he’s not exactly alone in that respect. Overall, though, this is an interpretation that didn’t engage me emotionally, a response that probably wasn’t helped by the distant nature of the recording.

There’s another terrific CD of the Six Sonatas for Violin Solo by Eugène Ysaÿe, this time by the Icelandic-born violinist Judith Ingolfsson (GENUIN GEN 1102). I reviewed the Rachel Colly D’Alba set on Warner last February, and referred then to the startling originality and individuality of these remarkable works. They’re arguably the most significant solo sonatas since Bach’s, yet despite being well represented on CD – one single web search today turned up 16 different issues – they haven’t been recorded by many of the really “big” names in the field. It’s almost impossible to offer an objective comparison with so many choices available, but this is another impressive set that never makes the pieces sound forced or awkward. And that’s saying something.

On her latest solo CD+DVD set, le violoncelle parle (the cello speaks) (harmonia mundi HMC 902078) the French cellist Emmanuelle Bertrand presents an excellent programme: Britten’s Suite No. 3 in C minor, written for Rostropovich; Gaspar Cassado’s Suite from 1926; a relatively new (2003) and quite moving work from Bertrand’s partner and regular accompanist Pascal Amoyel called Itinérance; and a knock-out performance of the Kodaly Suite Op. 8, which really doesn’t sound like it was written in 1915. Bertrand’s breathing noises are a bit intrusive at times, but nothing can detract from the wonderful playing here. The DVD is an engrossing 47-minute film by Christian Leblé that features Bertrand talking about the music (in clear, understandable French with sub-titles) along with sections of the actual CD studio recording of each work and a fascinating look at Bertrand one-on-one with one of her students in a section of the Kodaly Suite.

Newton Classics has reissued the 2CD Complete Works for Violin and Piano by Stravinsky, originally issued by Philips in 1989, and played by Dutch violinist Isabelle van Keulen and Finnish pianist Olli Mustonen (8802062 2CD). The recordings were made in 1987 and 1988 in Switzerland, but sound as fresh as if they were made last week. Most of the works here are transcriptions of Stravinsky’s own orchestral works, with virtually all of them crediting Stravinsky and Samuel Dushkin as the arrangers. Stravinsky met the Polish-American violinist in 1930, when Schott, the composer’s German publisher, suggested that Stravinsky write a concerto for Dushkin. The two got on well, and as Stravinsky needed to increase his income they formed a performing duo which toured extensively throughout the 1930s. All of the music on these CDs resulted from that partnership. Van Keulen’s playing is exemplary – clean, warm, stylish and with no trace of excessive show; it’s fitting, given that what attracted Stravinsky to Dushkin’s playing was the latter’s sensitivity and a complete lack of showy virtuosity. Mustonen provides the perfect support. Beautifully packaged, and with really excellent booklet notes, this is one of the best “complete works” sets I’ve seen in a long time. Distributed by Naxos here, the budget price makes it an even more attractive buy.

An equally attractive Super Audio CD comes from PentaTone Classics, with Arabella Steinbacher and Robert Kulek performing the Complete Works for Violin and Piano by Johannes Brahms (PTC 5186 367). I always feel you can judge how performances of the Brahms sonatas are going to turn out just by listening to the first 4 bars of the G major sonata: the two piano chords and the almost hesitant off-beat entry of the violin have to be perfectly judged in all respects – tempo, dynamics, pulse, touch, style, warmth, you name it – as they set the mood for the whole work. Well, no problems here. This is classic Brahms playing, bringing to mind all the usual adjectives: warm; glowing; expansive; autumnal. Simply beautiful. I’ll be playing this one again and again.

Summer Thoughts is the title of a new Ondine CD of the Works for Violin and Piano by Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara, played by violinist Pekka Kuusisto and pianist Paavali Jumppanen (ODE1177-2). Rautavaara, who turns 83 on October 9, has had a highly successful career, despite apparently not understanding why: he says that he writes his music “for myself and no one else,” and is “very flattered and surprised” if someone else finds something rewarding in it. His style is very eclectic. The works here, four of which are world premiere recordings, cover most of Rautavaara’s career: Summer Thoughts and April Lines are both recent re-workings of material from the early 1970s; Lost Landscapes was a 2005 commission from Midori; Dithyrambos and Varietude for solo violin were written as the compulsory pieces for the International Jean Sibelius Violin Competition in 1970 and 1974 respectively; Notturna e danza was also an obligatory piece, written in 1993 for a youth chamber music competition. The most successful piece for me was, ironically, the only one in which the performers don’t actually play together. Pelimannit, or The Fiddlers, is a 6-movement piano suite from 1952 inspired by Finnish violin polska tunes notated some 150 years earlier. For this recording, Kuusisto hit on the idea of playing the actual fiddle tunes before the relevant piano sections. It works wonderfully – and there’s some tremendous fiddle playing!

Naxos has issued a 3CD box set of Elgar - The Violin Music (8.572643-45), although the performers aren’t quite what you might expect for this most quintessentially English of composers: the orchestra for the Violin Concerto and the Serenade for Strings is the West Kazakhstan Philharmonic Orchestra under Bundit Ungrangsee. The Kazakhstan-born violinist Marat Bisengaliev, who founded the orchestra in 2003, clearly has strong ties to Elgar’s home base, however: the acknowledgements in the booklet notes include reference to his work as musician in residence in Malvern, and thanks for the loan of Elgar’s violin and bow. CD 1, recorded in 2009, contains the orchestral works; CDs 2 and 3, recorded in 1998 and 2000 and previously released by Black Box Music, consist almost entirely of works for violin and piano, with Benjamin Frith at the keyboard. The concerto receives a very presentable reading, with a nicely-balanced orchestral opening and a clean, transparent sound – no “stuffy” Edwardian approach here. Bisengaliev enters sounding more like a viola, with a big tone, quite nasal in the middle and lower registers, and with a tendency to scoop a bit between notes. Although he is much better in the faster sections of the concerto – especially the opening to the third movement – he sounds a bit strained in the quieter, slower moments, which I felt didn’t have the pensive, contemplative feel that is so essential in this music. Overall, this is a performance that occasionally scales the heights, but doesn’t really plumb the depths of this very personal and emotional work. CDs 2 and 3 contain almost 30 short works for violin and piano, both original and transcriptions, as well as the E minor Violin Sonata. Bisengaliev’s full tone and constant vibrato become a bit tiresome after a while. CD2, incidentally, ends with five remarkable Etudes caractéristiques for solo violin, which I never even knew existed!

Jadin - Quatuors a cordes, Oeuvre 1 - Quatuor Franz Joseph

Jadin - Quatuors a cordes, Oeuvre 1

Quatuor Franz Joseph

ATMA ACD2 2610

Child prodigy Hyacinthe Jadin premiered his own piano concerto at the age of 13 during the French Revolution, an event which both inspired and overshadowed him. He composed in almost every contemporary genre, including harpsichord and piano pieces, revolutionary hymns, conventional sonatas and trios and chamber music when it was exclusive to the aristocracy.

Quatuor Franz Joseph is certainly conventional: two violins, viola and cello. However, it introduces us to Jadin’s first quartet with a largo which very soon becomes an allegro that is tackled with relish by the quartet. The allegro and following adagio, minuet and second allegro combine to create chamber music at its most exhilarating.

Much less serious in tone are the two other quartets, in A major and F minor. Both exemplify the conventional chamber music of the pump room, albeit enlightened with the demands of the presto last movement of the A major and the folkloric quality of the F minor’s polonaise.

Jadin is said to have been influenced by Haydn, highly likely as Haydn’s influence was by then ubiquitous. Jadin was unique first in that he wrote chamber music when it was almost never publicly performed and second in that he was influenced by Haydn’s slow introductions to his symphonic works. All from a 19-year-old!

We are lucky that Quatuor Franz Joseph is bringing Jadin to the ATMA label; his spirited music makes his death at 24 all the more tragic.

Beethoven - Piano Sonatas 8; 17; 23 - Ingrid Fliter

Beethoven - Piano Sonatas 8; 17; 23

Ingrid Fliter

EMI 0 94573 2

Beethoven’s 32 piano sonatas, with his symphonies and string quartets are among the supreme achievements of civilization in the same sphere as the work of Shakespeare, Dante and Michelangelo. The best pianists have recorded them, like Schnabel, Backhaus, Gieseking, Kempff, Rubinstein, Horowitz and Richter to name only a few. Now a new challenger by the name of Ingrid Fliter has arrived to add to the roster.

Born in Buenos Aires and studied in Europe, she has already won prizes at numerous international competitions and received the prestigious Gilmore Award. This is her 3rd issue with EMI after two very successful Chopin recordings. Here she selected works that probably best suit her temperament, three of the Master’s most turbulent and passionate sonatas, all with a nickname: Pathétique, Tempest and Appassionata.

She plays with great fervour, almost reckless passion, abandon, phenomenal technique, precision and imagination rarely found in other pianists. Nowhere does this come out better than in the performance of Op. 57, the “Appassionata”, where the nearly deaf Beethoven with violent outbursts is virtually shaking his fist to the heavens. Interestingly, it is somewhat related to the 5th Symphony. Notice the four note motive in the bass - D flat, D flat, D flat, C - very similar to the Fate motive that permeates the 1st movement of the 5th. The whirlwind, turbulent last movement where the speed and excitement just builds and builds to the breaking point, ending with an even faster frantic gypsy dance coda is guaranteed to lift you out of your seat, that is if you are not already standing.

Gabriel Dupont - Les heures dolentes; La maison dans les dunes - Stéphane Lemelin

Gabriel Dupont - Les heures dolentes; La maison dans les dunes

Stéphane Lemelin

ATMA ACD2 2544

In this terrific 2-CD release, pianist Stéphane Lemelin makes a strong case for the remarkable piano music of French composer Gabriel Dupont (1878-1914). These works amalgamate late romantic and impressionist elements into a personal voice that meaningfully conveys the composer’s struggle with tuberculosis. Dupont was known in his day for operas; here too melody pours out and harmony is intriguing. The 14-piece set Les heures dolentes (Doleful Hours) is a diary from the composer’s sickbed at a spa. Particularly touching is the charming “A Friend has Come with Some Flowers” at the work’s midpoint. The last four pieces suggest confrontation and resolution: “Death Grinds,” “Some Children Play in the Garden,” the truly great “White Night - Hallucinations” with its terrifying bass figurations and dissonant harmony, and finally “Calm.”

The ten pieces of La maison dans les dunes (The House in the Dunes) reflect nature, especially the sea. Water has life-giving status in both the playful “The Sun Plays in the Waves” and the dissonant, surging menace in “Sea Swells at Night” where Lemelin delivers a tour de force of “maritime pianism.” The penultimate “Star Light” I found to be the most spiritual piece of all, on the level of the “In Paradisum” from Fauré’s Requiem. Whether the pianistic challenge is handling soft, rapid filigree around a singing melody, pedalling dense passages without getting waterlogged, or achieving transcendent calm, Lemelin can do it. Highly recommended.

Elgar - Piano Quintet; String Quartet - Piers Lane; Goldner String Quartet

Elgar - Piano Quintet; String Quartet

Piers Lane; Goldner String Quartet

Hyperion CDA67857

Elgar has always been more famous for his large-scale orchestral and choral works than for his chamber music, but included among his output are a fine string quartet and a piano quintet. Both pieces were written over a two year period between 1918 and 1919 when the aging composer was residing in a cottage in West Sussex – and both are presented here on this Hyperion recording by the Australian-based Goldner String Quartet with pianist Piers Lane.

The quartet is an appealing anachronism. After all, only six years before, Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring had caused a scandal in Paris, while in Vienna, the Second Viennese School was making strides with serialism. Elgar himself admitted, “It is full of golden sounds… but you must not expect anything violently chromatic or cubist.” Nonetheless, this is elegant music, elegantly played, and the Goldners handle the intricate string writing with its subtle harmonic shifts with great precision and warmth.

The more expansive piano quintet is equally conservative, but is marked by a considerably more serious tone. Piers Lane and the quartet are perfectly matched, treating the tempestuous opening movement with bold assurance. Similarly, the middle movement adagio is given the pathos and anguish it deserves, while the finale, with its mood of buoyant optimism, brings the disc to a satisfying conclusion.

Between the two chamber works are four hitherto unrecorded solo piano pieces, two dating from the early 1930s, and all of them, charming examples of Elgar’s keyboard style. In all, this is an exemplary recording of music written by a composer who was nearing the final chapter of his creative life - there’s hope for us all!

Glenn Gould in Concert 1951-1960 - Glenn Gould

Glenn Gould in Concert 1951-1960

Glenn Gould

West Hill Radio Archives WHRA-6038

The tragedy of Glenn Gould as concert pianist is seldom discussed. He faced crippling performance anxieties he could not overcome, and abandoned his flourishing career in his early thirties. He then commenced to become even more famous in his subsequent life as a combination recording artist, CBC arts producer, music journalist, and general Toronto eccentric.

Here we have the Glenn Gould most of us never knew, the concert artist, in some five hours of previously unreleased recordings. All of this material is unedited, taken from radio broadcasts or private recordings: it is raw Gould, so to say, with the occasional smudges and wrong notes of all pianists, from an artist who in later life insisted on zealous control of his work, in his bid for edited perfection. The performances are from Canada, the USA, Russia, Austria, and Sweden. Gould biographer Kevin Bazzana has supplied lengthy biographical notes, in extremely small print. The release itself is Canadian/German and cryptic, except for a clear warning label: “Not available in the USA.”

A 1958 Vancouver Festival performance of - guess what? - Bach’s Goldberg Variations opens this boxed set. The Aria dances with tremendous musicality and contrapuntal verve. It feels more elastic and personal than the famous Columbia debut release of 1955. Variations 29 and 30 are electric and wild, and played interwoven as one.

There’s a wonderful performance of the Beethoven Second Piano Concerto with Paul Paray and the Detroit Symphony, with an aching slow movement. We tend to put Gould in a cerebral, clinical camp of pianism: not here. With the same conductor and orchestra - on the same night, no less! - Gould then teamed up with the DSO’s concertmaster Mischa Mischakoff and principal flutist Albert Tipton for a splendid, warm performance of the Fifth Brandenburg Concerto. Gould’s long solo cadenza, written by Bach, is muscular and songful.

Other treasures abound, including a gentle reading of Beethoven’s Sonata Op. 109 from a Vienna recital, Schoenberg’s intimate, spiky Piano Concerto with the Cleveland Orchestra, and some gorgeous Beethoven chamber music from the Stratford Festival.

There’s an oddly dreary Gould performance of the Brahms First Concerto - with a fine Winnipeg SO led by Victor Feldbrill - that then roars to life for our hero in the finale.

Swedish mezzo-soprano Kerstin Meyer joined him for Schoenberg’s song cycle Book of the Hanging Gardens at the 1960 Vancouver Festival. She tells us in the notes that Gould was a superb and deferential accompanist, who followed her “like a shadow.”

Sound quality throughout these CDs is so-so, yet very present and alive. Engineer Albert Frantz did the digital restorations: you know right away these are dated performances, but you also feel like a time-traveller, sitting in a good seat at each concert venue.

It is sad to recall that this brilliant young Toronto pianist of the 1950s could still be concertizing today, had he lived, and had he continued a normal path. Gould would turn 80 next year. He was a contemporary of Paul Badura-Skoda, Alfred Brendel and Martha Argerich. But something went wrong, and Gould’s retreat into the recording studio brought a more mannered musical trajectory that still confounds many.

Strongly recommended! Order online from www.canadacd.ca ($52.99).

STRINGS ATTACHED - September 2011

Throughout his life, Robert Schumann tended to concentrate on one particular form of composition at a time, and in 1853 he produced his only three works for violin and orchestra, although only one – the Fantasy in C minor – was premiered before his death 3 years later. BIS has released an outstanding SACD of the Complete Works for Violin and Orchestra (BIS-SACD-1775) featuring Ulf Wallin with the Robert-Schumann-Philharmonie under Frank Beermann. The Concerto in A minor is Schumann’s own transcription of his 1850 Cello Concerto, and it works remarkably well, given the two instruments’ differences in pitch and tone. It was premiered as recently as 1987 after a copy was found in the papers of the violinist Joseph Joachim, to whom both the Fantasy and the Violin Concerto in D minor were dedicated. The Fantasy, an attractive work with a striking cadenza, fell out of favour after Schumann’s death, and the D minor concerto fared no better, with several projected premieres being cancelled before Clara Schumann and Joachim lost faith in it and decided against publishing it. Joachim’s resistance was probably due to the concerto’s technical and musical challenges: it’s a large work with a beautiful slow movement, but has never really established itself in the repertoire since finally being published and premiered in 1937. If anything can change that, it’s this recording. Ulf Wallin (who also wrote the outstanding booklet notes) uses Schumann’s original solo part, wisely choosing to ignore the later unauthorized “corrections and alterations” apparently made by Joachim. The result is a definitive performance, full of strength and beauty, and perfectly displaying the mix of Classical and Romantic styles that typify the music of this still often misunderstood composer.

CHANDOS has issued Volume 2 of the Violin Concertos of the Polish violinist and composer Grazyna Bacewicz (CHAN 10673), and it’s quite stunning. Bacewicz (1909-69) was that 20th century rarity – a world-class violin virtuoso with compositional skills to match. Volume 1 featured Concertos 1, 3 and 7, and this new CD completes the set with Nos. 2 (1945), 4 (1951) and 5 (1954) (No.6 exists only in manuscript, and has never been performed). The three works here range from the somewhat Prokofiev-like No.2, with its mix of melodic and strongly rhythmic material, to the much tougher, terser world of No.5, as Polish music began moving away from the “formalist” Communist days. All three demonstrate Bacewicz’s innate understanding of the instrument, and her assured grasp of form and orchestration. The Polish-born violinist Joanna Kurkowicz, now resident in the United States, is wonderful throughout, and given terrific support by the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra under Lukasz Borowicz. An absolutely essential addition to the 20th century violin concerto record catalogue.

Bohuslav Martinu, Arthur Honegger and Paul Hindemith lived almost exactly contemporaneous lives, being born within 5 years of each other in the early 1890s and all dying in their 60s between 1955 and 1963. As cellist Johannes Moser perceptively notes in the booklet for his latest CD, Cello Concertos (Hänssler CLASSIC CD 93.276) they had one other thing in common: they all consciously avoided the path of serialism and consistently developed their own very individual styles. Moser’s idea of bringing their cello concertos together in one programme is a real winner, and results in a terrific CD. All three works are in the traditional three-movement form and are immediately accessible, while clearly imbued with each composer’s individual voice. The Martinu, from 1930, has its roots firmly in the Czech tradition, with a soulfulness very reminiscent of Janáček at times. The Honegger is a short (15 minutes) but very effective work from the same year. The Hindemith, from 1940, is classic Hindemith: a strong, rhythmic opening; an immediate melodic entry for the soloist; an instantly identifiable and highly personal use of tonality; stunning orchestration. It’s a wonderful partner for the Violin Concerto from the previous year. I’m completely at a loss to understand why Hindemith is still regarded in some circles as a dry, theoretical musician – it’s a view completely at odds with his mature orchestral works, and one completely destroyed by performances like this. Moser is outstanding throughout the disc. The recorded sound is warm and resonant, and the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie and conductor Christoph Poppen are ideal partners.

Two late 20th century violin concertos are featured on a Harmonia Mundi CD (AP007) of works by Henri Dutilleux and Rafael D’Haene, with the Belgian violinist Yossif Ivanov and the Orchestre de l’Opera national de Lyon under Kazushi Ono. Dutilleux was born in 1916, and is still with us at 95! His violin concerto L’arbre des songes (Tree of Dreams), finished in 1985, took a while to write: it was commissioned by Radio France in 1979 for Isaac Stern’s 60th birthday the following year. It’s an intriguing work, consisting of four main sections joined by three orchestral interludes, and shows a tremendous range of orchestral colour and timbre. The Belgian composer Rafael D’Haene was born in 1943, and was a pupil and consequently a close friend of Dutilleux. His violin concerto (1990) is a two-movement work which has as its theme the myth of Orpheus, with which the composer has always been fascinated. It’s maybe less immediately accessible than the Dutilleux, but is no less striking a work for that. Dutilleux's Nocturne for Violin and Orchestra, sur le meme accord, completes the CD; it's a short but brilliant piece built on a 6-note chord, composed in 2002 and dedicated to Anne-Sophie Mutter. Ivanov and the orchestra are in top form throughout a disc that has to be listened to – no simple background music here – but that amply rewards the effort.

Three more 20th century violin concertos – although you would never guess to listen to them – comprise the programme on a CD of music by the Leipzig-born composer Julius Rontgen (1855-1932), who spent most of his life in the Netherlands, but remained firmly rooted in the German tradition of Mendelssohn, Schumann and Brahms. The German label CPO has issued an interesting and thought-provoking CD of his Violin Concertos (777 437-2) featuring the Concertos in A minor from 1902 and F sharp minor from 1931, together with the Ballad from 1918. Although I know the name, I can’t recall ever hearing any of Rontgen’s music, and listening to this CD it’s perhaps easy to understand why: despite all three works dating from the 1900s you’re constantly reminded of 19th century composers – Sarasate, Dvořák, and particularly Bruch and Brahms – and while it’s all very competent and makes for pleasant listening there doesn’t seem to be a great deal of substance or individuality. It always seems to fall just short of memorable. Brahms, himself a friend of Rontgen’s, was among those - both critics and colleagues - who commented that Rontgen’s musical voice was simply not original enough. That’s not to say that his voice was without talent, however. Rontgen may have been stylistically stuck in 19th century Germany, but he clearly knew his craft. These works display skill and taste, together with a real melodic gift and a fine grasp of orchestration; what he apparently lacked was that true spark of genius that would have infused his music with a strong personal identity. Dutch violinist Liza Ferschtman makes the most of the material here, with fully committed playing that presents the music in the best possible light. The Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz under David Porcelijn provides excellent support. It might be easy to see why this music has remained in a backwater instead of drifting into the mainstream, but don’t be misled: there are many really lovely moments throughout this CD.

There’s another recording of the wonderful Mozart Divertimento K563 - the String Trio in E flat – one of Mozart’s most glorious keys. I raved about the Trio Zimmermann’s recording of this work earlier this year, and now Naxos has issued an excellent performance by violinist Henning Kraggerud, violist Lars Anders Tomter and cellist Christoph Richter (8.572258). Again, don’t be fooled by the designation Divertimento: although this normally signified light entertainment music where the composer was free to choose a mixture of movements and forms, this six-movement work is, as Ingrid Anderson’s booklet notes so rightly point out, “far from pure entertainment.” She echoes the Alfred Einstein quote from my previous review when she calls the first two movements “…among the most sonorous and masterful examples of chamber music ever written.” And they are. This performance may be slightly less intense than the Zimmermann at times, but it’s a warm, rich reading that is beautifully recorded. At the bargain Naxos price it’s a great way to obtain a superb work that is quite simply Mozart at his best.