Word: quartetting
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Sony has released a new recording in its "Artist Laureate" series, this time featuring its premier chamber group--the quartet composed of violinist Isaac Stern, violist Jaime Laredo, cellist Yo-Yo Ma and pianist Emmanuel Ax. This recording contrasts the piano quartets of Beethoven and Schumann, embracing both the Classical and Romantic periods in music...
...Schumann brings intensely emotional playing, but also bad memories such as the beginning of the fourth movement, where Laredo and Stern both lose the string of their solo 16th-notes by the end of their runs. I wouldn't want the quartet to take a slower tempo, but I got the impression that they were flying blind--they didn't know for sure whether they could really pull...
...least the Schumann. I'm sure that these four musicians enjoy getting together to read chamber works, but they'll have trouble competing against today's better groups and the classic historical recordings of the last 50 years. I would much sooner pick up the Busch Quartet with Rudolf Serkin, the Guarneri Quartet with Artur Rubinstein or the contemporary recordings by the Cleveland Quartet and Brian's upcoming favorites, Domus...
...whole, this recording gets a Harvard B+. The quartet did the work that was assigned, but nothing brilliant materialized...
...even the most robust of classical labels, but though Virgin Classics may not occupy the uppermost rung in term of financial clout and big-name draws, it has championed several relatively unknown ensembles which can outplay the competition, big label or not. A good example is the Brahms piano quartet cycle recorded by Domus, which outshines Sony's offering with a super-powerhouse lineup of Isaac Stern, Jaime Laredo, Yo-Yo Ma, and Emanuel...