Brahms String Quintet

Emerson String Quartet, Leon Fleischer - Brahms: String Quartets & Piano Quintet (2007)

Emerson String Quartet, Leon Fleischer - Brahms: String Quartets & Piano Quintet (2007)
WEB | FLAC (tracks) - 646 MB | 02:21:30
Genre: Classical | Label: Deutsche Grammophon

Rich, warm, ripe, and full of wisdom, the Emerson Quartet's 2007 recording of Brahms' three string quartets for Deutsche Grammophon is not only the finest recording of the group's 30-year career, but the recording that confirms its title as America's Greatest Quartet. Here, the Emerson's mastery of ensemble playing is complete. With its easy interplay, impeccable balances, and effortless tempo rubato, the Emerson has the vital cogency of a great jazz quartet. Beyond the technical, the Emerson's wholly unified interpretations are overwhelming.

Cuarteto Casals - Brahms: String Quartets, Piano Quintet (2008)  Music

Posted by tirexiss at April 17, 2020
Cuarteto Casals - Brahms: String Quartets, Piano Quintet (2008)

Cuarteto Casals - Brahms: String Quartets, Piano Quintet (2008)
EAC | FLAC (image+.cue, log) | Covers Included | 02:15:38 | 614 MB
Genre: Classical | Label: Harmonia Mundi | Catalog: 987074

The three string quartets of Johannes Brahms are difficult beasts to master. On the one hand, they contain some of the densest, richest harmonization in the repertoire. This can be quickly followed by moments of utter transparency and serenity. The Cuarteto Casals, however, only delivers on one half of this sonic spectrum. When it comes to the lighter sound quality as heard, for example, in the beginning of the third movement of the A minor quartet or the fourth movement of the B flat major quartet, the sound quality produced by the Cuarteto Casals seems just about right.
Pavel Haas Quartet - Johannes Brahms: Piano Quintet, Op. 34 & String Quintet Op. 111 (2022)

Pavel Haas Quartet - Johannes Brahms: Piano Quintet, Op. 34 & String Quintet Op. 111 (2022)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 306 Mb | Total time: 71:44 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Supraphon | # SU 4306-2 | Recorded: 2021

Their recording of the American Quartet and String Quartet No. 13, Op. 106 (Gramophone Award - Recording of the Year), elevated the Pavel Haas Quartet among the finest performers of Antonín Dvorák's music. This position was subsequently confirmed by a recording of the composer's quintets, made with the violist Pavel Nikl, a founding member of the ensemble, and the pianist Boris Giltburg, winner of the Queen Elisabeth Competition. The album received the most coveted classical music accolades (Gramophone Chamber Award, BBC Radio 3 Record Review Discs of the Year, Diapason d'Or, etc.). While recording the Dvorák quintets, the logical idea of a Brahms album was born.
Pražák Quartet - Johannes Brahms: String Quartet No. 2 Op. 51/2, String Quintet No. 2 Op. 111 (2006)

Pražák Quartet - Johannes Brahms: String Quartet No. 2 Op. 51/2, String Quintet No. 2 Op. 111 (2006)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 303 Mb | Total time: 61:26 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Praga Digitals | PRD/DSD 250 236 | Recorded: 2009, 2010

Written more than 15 years apart, these two scores, juxtaposed here for the first time, successively illustrate the somewhat morose ‘Nordic’ inspiration of the composer of Ein deutsches Requiem, then a more intimate poetic feeling, and finally a communicative serenity, the headiness of a ‘Hungarian’ dance in the Quartet, a sort of wild csárdás with quasi-orchestral force in the coda of the Quintet.
Hagen Quartett, Kirill Gerstein - Brahms: String Quartet op. 67, Piano Quintet op. 34 (2019)

Hagen Quartett, Kirill Gerstein - Brahms: String Quartet op. 67, Piano Quintet op. 34 (2019)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 349 Mb | Total time: 80:17 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Myrios | # MYR021 | Recorded: 2014, 2019

This album marks a milestone in the extensive discography of the Hagen Quartett – myrios classics is honoured to present their first recording of a Brahms string quartet. The quartet op. 67 is paired with Brahms’ piano quintet op. 34. Here, the Hagen Quartett is joined by their regular collaborator, pianist Kirill Gerstein.
Quatuor Voce, Lise Berthaud - Mozart, Brahms: String Quintets (2015)

Quatuor Voce, Lise Berthaud - Mozart, Brahms: String Quintets (2015)
EAC | FLAC (image+.cue, log) | Covers + Digital Booklet | 60:11 | 299 MB
Genre: Classical | Label: Alpha Classics | Catalog: Alpha 214

After its first two recordings, devoted to Schubert then Beethoven, highly praised and recommended by the critics, this eclectic, innovative quartet is now celebrating its tenth anniversary by tackling the string quintets of Mozart and Brahms. These two scores, representative of the culmination of a career in the case of Brahms and, for Mozart, the end of a life, are sustained by vigorous inspiration and frothing energy.
David Shifrin, Emerson String Quartet - Mozart, Brahms: Clarinet Quintets (1999)

David Shifrin, Emerson String Quartet - Mozart, Brahms: Clarinet Quintets (1999)
EAC | FLAC (image+.cue, log) | Covers Included | 01:09:43 | 335 MB
Genre: Classical | Label: Deutsche Grammophon | Catalog: 289 459 641-2

The Emersons and clarinetist Shifrin emphasize smoothness of line and a creamy blend of sound in this polished 1997 performance of the Mozart quintet. Tempos are ideal, giving Mozart's luxurious, long-breathed yet fragile melodies plenty of time to unfold without sacrificing animation or expressive point. Understatement rules in this interpretation, which is all the more intense and poignant because of it.
The Raphael Ensemble - Johannes Brahms: String Quintets (2010)

The Raphael Ensemble - Johannes Brahms: String Quintets (2010)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 272 Mb | Total time: 58:07 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Hyperion | # CDH55369 | Recorded: 1995

Brahms composed his two published String Quintets amid the rural tranquillity of Bad Ischl in Upper Austria and the works can almost be seen as an expression of escape from the 'urban stress' of nineteenth-century Vienna. The Quintets show Brahms standing at the pinnacle of the composition of chamber music, their gentle pastoral character being subtly shaded by a profoundly melancholy introspection.
Quintette Stadler - Johannes Brahms: Clarinet Quintet Op.115; Stephan Krehl: Clarinet Quintet Op.19 (1998)

Quintette Stadler - Johannes Brahms: Clarinet Quintet Op.115; Stephan Krehl: Clarinet Quintet Op.19 (1998)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 302 Mb | Total time: 66:45 | Scans included
Classical | Label: K617 Records | # K617084 | Recorded: 1998

Brahms' Clarinet Quintet is a cornerstone of late Romantic chamber music, and this is the only period interpretation of the work using period instruments curently available. Jean Claude Veilhan plays a late C19th clarinet with a fine mellow sound that is more refined than a classical instrument but still more delicate than a modern one would sound. He is well supported by the string players (members of Quatour Turner who record for Harmonia Mundi), who use gut strings and a historically correct technique, ie:- they aim for a transparent sound with limited vibrato.
Ludwig Quartet - Johannes Brahms: String Quintets Nos. 1 and 2 (2017)

Ludwig Quartet - Johannes Brahms: String Quintets Nos. 1 and 2 (2017)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 271 Mb | Total time: 59:58 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Naxos | # 8.553635 | Recorded: 1995

Like Mozart, Brahms was a bit uncomfortable writing string quartets, where the desire to maintain an absolutely democratic discourse among the participants often led to overly dense textures and rhythmic heaviness. The extra viola part offered by the quintet medium, however, allowed both composers to relax a bit and write music with the richness of texture they both loved, without forcing. These two works really don't seem to get the attention that they deserve, either on recordings or in concert, but they are both vintage Brahms. Fortunately, Naxos seems to be dedicated to a complete survey of the chamber music of the great composers, and they are working with a very fine stable of artists.