Customer Reviews

Mozart: Clarinet Quintet; Cesar Franck: Piano Quintet; Richard Strauss: Prelude to Capriccio

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Live from BBC Radio 3: the Amadeus Quartet in Ensemble...
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For numerous years after WWII it seems apparently no one could bear to hear a German quartet.

Even Germany's great classical label Deutsche Grammophon elected to record and issue discs by Czech (Prague), English (Amadeus), and American (LaSalle) groups.
(Old Yeller wouldn't touch a German quartet till the 1970s when the younger generation Melos [of Stuttgart] emerged triumphant.)

Of course the Amadeus was three-quarters Viennese (and Jewish) émigré; nevertheless, throughout the 1950s and 1960s it was rightly considered THE English quartet par excellence.

The Amadeus's complete cycles of the Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and Brahms quartets remain a standard by which all other performances may be measured.

Moreover, the Amadeus did some extraordinary work in ensemble with other chamber players: the performances issued on this disc are a case in point.

In this instance the additional players are two of the Amadeus's favourite collaborators--Melos Ensemble of London co-founder, violist Cecil Aronowitz; and Jackie du Pré's maître, cellist William Pleeth in Strauss's exquisite String Sextet prelude to Capriccio.

In addition, these remarkably well-sounding 20-bit digitally remastered recordings feature collaborations with two notable Londoners: clarinettist Gervase de Peyer; and pianist Clifford Curzon in chamber masterpieces of the first water--Mozart's A-major Quintet, and Franck's f-minor Quintet.

Peyer's plummy roulades are scrumptiously delicious; Curzon's délicatesse is appreciable.

These recordings made by the BBC are excellent with very little audience noise, and applause only at the end of the final track.
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The Amadeus made studio recordings of the Mozart and Brahms Clarinet Quintets with Peyer and Leister (respectively); Mozart Chamber Works with Peyer et al.; likewise, the (viola) String Quintets of Beethoven, Bruckner, Brahms, and Mozart with Aronowitz; and Schubert's (cello) String Quintet with Pleeth; and ultimately Brahms's String Sextets with both Aronowitz and Pleeth.

Furthermore, the Amadeus made a stunning realization of Brahms's g-minor Piano Quartet with Emil Gilels.

Earnestly recommended.
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Amadeus's Brahms & Dvorák Quartets
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