Brahms: Four Hand Piano Music, Vol. 11

Johannes Brahms (Composer), Christian Kohn (Performer), Silke-Thora Matthies (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Christian Kohn, Silke-Thora Matthies
• Composer: Johannes Brahms
• Audio CD (June 15, 2004)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Naxos
• ASIN: B000260QM4
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #445,428 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Masterful Brahms and a worthy performance, December 6, 2006

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Hexameron - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Brahms: Four Hand Piano Music, Vol. 11 (Audio CD)

A little disclaimer for the reader of this review: I've not heard any of these works on this CD in their original form. Before exploring the Naxos Four Hand Series, I had not heard any orchestral/chamber work from Brahms except the Variations on Haydn and a few Hungarian Dances. I'm on an outlandish and rare path of exposing myself to Brahms exclusively through Naxos' Four Hand Piano series. My first taste was the German Requiem for Four Hands, and I was breathless. I still feel stunned by Brahms's music.

This disc continues a delightful expedition into the four-hand arrangements of Brahms's chamber works. Being unfamiliar with the original chamber version of the Op. 67 String Quartet and the Op. 88 String Quintet, I'll undoubtedly disappoint the reader of this review. I can't make a proper comparison and vouch for this disc from the standpoint of an experienced Brahms listener. I will say, however, that I've familiarized myself with all the music up to this volume in the Brahms Four Hand series from Naxos; I see myself fit enough to recommend it because of the *piano performance* alone. Indeed, I've always thought Brahms's music ideas perfect for any medium. His lush harmonies, fluid counterpoint and other beautiful textures are made clear and gorgeous in this piano recording. Kohn and Matthies have done it once again. They play these pieces with grace, poise, and with a flawless touch. Such attributes are appropriate and crucial for this kind of music. Fortunately, this piano duo delivers that and more.

I would have given this CD 5 stars but I'm afraid I don't share as much affection and appreciation for the String Quartet No. 3 as I do for the Op. 51 (on Vol. 10). It's still a magnificent and tender work, don't get me wrong. The first movement is deceptively dramatic and arousing with its lively rhythms and whirling momentum. It showcases wonderful dynamics on the piano and charms with its light-hearted melodies. Musically, however, I find it a little less-inspired than the Op. 51 string quartets, whose first movements outclass this one in my opinion. The second movement, however, is the glorious achievement in this quartet. There's something about this kind of music from Brahms that carries itself better on the piano. The introspective phrases, the underlying mellowness and the dramatic outbursts make for outstanding piano passage work. It sounds like a majestic piano sonata movement. However, the agitato third movement doesn't sustain my interest. Repeated listenings make it musically attractive, but the main allegretto theme is not my favorite from Brahms. This is no fault on the piano performers, either. On the contrary, they crystallize the musical content and deliver a beautiful interpretation. The fourth movement contains a similar quality of music: eloquent, masterful, beautiful, but sometimes boring and unimaginative. That must seem like an odd combination, but this is just coming from someone who just listened to the Op. 51. I'm afraid this last String Quartet doesn't captivate me like the previous two did. Regardless, there are sublime moments and this is still outstanding music compared to other mediocrities.

The String Quintet, on the other hand, is a gem played with furor and passion. On the piano, it possesses awesome grandeur and beautiful homophony. The first movement is warm and quasi-pastoral with a lovely main theme which is given some superior thematic development. Brahms displays his prowess here with fusing virtuosity and lyricism, sequencing and modulation. I can't compare this with the original string quintet, but the piano sounds indomitable anyway. The performers infuse the instrument with an unwavering stream of energy, and they play with vigor and titanic strength. The second movement celebrates the dark moods and tones only found in the piano. There are moments in this second movement that transcend all of Brahms's musical ideas thus far on this disc. Curiously, this movement loses its power with the irregular and awkward interjection of an allegretto in between the morbid and solemn subjects. I frankly didn't care for the allegretto because I wanted Brahms to stay on course with tragedy. In those tragic moments, the piano highlights some amazing tone colors and dark timbres in the lowest bass. Despite the distracting interlude of cheerfulness, Brahms makes up for it with his spellbinding return to darkness and melancholy. After two sections of the allegretto, the end of the piece reaches the apex of sublime sadness. The piano helps express these few phrases of powerful Chopinesque despair. This tender moment is so brief; it seeps through for just a few seconds and vanishes forever. The last movement is a fugal tour-de-force and the pianists lift the shadows away to reveal the stellar counterpoint. On the whole, this work is a monumental chamber piece from Brahms, and the piano raises the composition to a lofty plane.

Bottom line: Brahms's String Quartet No. 3 is, in my opinion, inferior to the Op. 51 quartets. The String Quintet No. 1 does make up for this, though. And disregarding any of my biases, I still think both works shine under the fingers of this piano duo. But really, Brahms's music is always successful on this medium. To some, the piano may seem lacking. Does it match the intricacies of the string quartet? I don't know. But it does a fine job in both illuminating separate lines, especially in the polyphony, and communicating the power of Brahms's music.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Last Quartet & the First Quintet for Piano 4-Hands: A++, June 22, 2004

By 

J Scott Morrison (Middlebury VT, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Brahms: Four Hand Piano Music, Vol. 11 (Audio CD)

I'm afraid anyone who has read my reviews of earlier issues in this series of much of Brahms's output as he arranged it for piano four-hands will know what to expect in this notice. Yes, another rave. I'm sorry to be so boring, but this series is simply magnificent. Thank you, Silke-Thora Matthies and Christian Köhn, Naxos, and most of all Herr Brahms!

This disc combines Brahms's Third String Quartet, Op. 67, and the First String Quintet, Op. 88. The arrangements are, being by the composer himself, expert and telling. The playing is what we've come to expect from this young four-hand piano team, namely flexible, unfailingly musicianly and full of energy or songful repose whenever needed. My only quibble, and it's not the fault of the executants, is that no piano can successfully imitate the luscious sound of the string quintet in that memorable tune at the beginning of the Op. 88 Quintet, one of Brahms's loveliest creations. Once it gets in my head it stays for days.

One correspondent has asked me why anyone would want to have piano duet recordings of Brahms's music when there are so many excellent recordings of the music with original instrumentation; my answer is that these arrangement add to our understanding of Brahms's craft, his musical thought processes and, as well, they are magnificent music-making, capable of standing on their own. One advantage, for instance, is the frequent clarification of polyphonic textures. Perhaps there is a limited audience for this sort of thing, but since I started writing about this series I've had correspondence with a number of music-lovers who, like me, have been enraptured by the arrangements, the musicianly playing and the crisp, lifelike recorded sound. Of course, there are some of us who simply can't get enough of Brahms; e.g., I recently reviewed a recording, not in this series, of the 'German Requiem' sung by a French chamber choir (Accentus) and accompanied by two pianos, an arrangement Brahms made for a London concert. Stunning!

It's hard to know what might be coming in this series, but one can only hope that the Second Quintet and the two String Sextets are in the pipeline. I fervently hope so!

Heartily recommended.

TT=68:30

Scott Morrison