Track Listing

1. Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor, Op. 25: 1. Allegro
2. Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor, Op. 25: 2. Allegro, ma non troppo
3. Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor, Op. 25: 3. Andante con moto
4. Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor, Op. 25: 4. Rondo alla Zingarese: Presto
5. Ballades (4) for piano, Op. 10: 1. Andante - Allegro - Andante
6. Ballades (4) for piano, Op. 10: 2. Andante - Allegro non troppo - Molto staccato e leggiero - Andante
7. Ballades (4) for piano, Op. 10: 3. Intermezzo. Allegro
8. Ballades (4) for piano, Op. 10: 4. Andante con moto

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #201041 in Music
• Released on: 1996-01-23
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .20 pounds

Amazon.com
Back in those awful days before recordings, there was an entire industry devoted to making chamber reductions of large orchestral pieces, because if you wanted to hear the latest symphony, you had to play it yourself at home. Recordings changed all that, and now we have just the opposite: a trend towards playing chamber music in arrangements for large orchestra. Many listeners, then, may be familiar with this piano quartet from Schoenberg's wacky orchestral transcription, which features all kinds of instruments (like xylophone and celesta) that would have given Brahms a heart attack. In any case, here's an excellent performance of the original work, and it's really fun to listen to both versions. Check them out and see what you think. --David Hurwitz

Customer Reviews

Brahms soiree
This writer would have to confess a certain lack of objectivity as far as Emil Gilels is concerned . Indeed , Gilels was the first great musician he ever heard and the pianist's rendition of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata left an unforgettable impression . However , it seems indisputable that Gilels' contribution to the G Minor Quartet is distinguished and members of the Amadeus Quartet respond with eloquent , comitted playing . The 4 Ballades are simply among the indispensible classical recordings of the 20th century .

The best performance of Gilels in his life
First at all. I've always thought that Gilels is a superb musician altough something cold to my taste.

His readings of Rachmaninov lack that humanism that should be in your mind your soul and your fingers when you play that romantic composer.

I make this previous statement because when I decided to acquire this record in those Lp's days , in 1980., I did it because the two only references that I knew still didn't fill my requests.
So it happened the incredible. What happened in that recording evening? I don't know but Gilels was enraptured and possesed by Dionsyan inspiration and The Amadeus quartet in their best.

The result was an amazing performing, from the first bar to the last one. Every note is played with a comittment like the same Casals would have been present in the recording studio. What kind of playing! Personally I think this is the definitive version of this quartet op. 25.

Don't think I've tried. I tried with Serkin-Bush, I've bought Edwin Fisher and I found in New York Badura Skoda Janigro Fournier and all those recordings were well made but without enthusiasm and even an atom of sparkling light.

Many people don't seem understand that Brahms' shyness and all those comentaries about his craft , would make him the first on the line in Beethoven's heritage in his time.

For me, (and this is a personal consideration), Brahms suffered a personal crisis knowing the huge responsability upon his shoulders when he presented his first Symphony. And the fact that seems prove this statement is that the first symphony is Op.48.

This long speech allows me conclude that in the chamber music's mood he seemed to feel less presure and he , in certain way he felt with a major liberty to compose. Remeber also that the chamber music was a more intimate music and not for all the great audiences.

In this sense, even to understand the musical language of Johannes Brahms, please go and listen first all his chamber music. You'll find such kind of hidden treasures such the clarinet's quintets and his two strings quintets, for example, and then go for meeting the symphonic Brahms.

And if you had some doubt about the quality and great musicality of this genere in Brahm's music, go and explore how much of his music was played by Casals in Prades. Doesn'it tell you anything?
Back to the quartet op. 25, you'll find a young Brahms, in the peak of his craft.

And consider this recordings among the best performers of this important sign Deutsche Grampohone.

The sound in CD is fabolous.

Don't miss that version for any reason. It's essential for you to have it in your personal collection.

And then you 'll forget the others versions you had before.

Believe me.

Absolutely Wonderful Stuff
This recording of the Piano Quartet Opus 25 is one of the best. Full of vigor, passion, and power. The piano and strings are matched in their conception of a big tone even in the quiet passages. You can hear many different interpretations of this work, but I don't know of any that are actually better. This is one of my favorites, but I admit to being a Gilels fan and biased towards anything he ever did.

The Opus 10 Ballades are youthful works that fans of Brahms always love and young pianists love to learn. Well, this recording of these pieces will give them a great model to shoot for.

The recording sounds great and is definitely worth owning.